Noelinho

Track inspection 18:45. There's shenanigans somewhere. Track looks rideable, though obviously not as good as it usually is.

Track looks good around 3/4. Turns 1/2 less so, but they catch less sun at this time of year. They'll probably want to give the inside line a wider berth bit looks good to me. Lots of chat on the green though.

Yeah, he was nowhere in his first heat, did well in his second (didn’t he have a mechanical at the end there too?), won his third. A shame he touched the tapes in 13, would’ve been a good one.

He's been better than his scorecard, apart from going through the tapes in heat 13.

The rain that evening was obscene. I didn’t bring my umbrella because the forecast was for light showers. I was on the back straight stand and talking to a couple that had come up from England. We talked about Rye House for ages (I’m from Hoddesdon originally) whilst the rain came down, but by the time the meeting was called off, I was soaked through every layer imaginable. Maryhill was flooded on the way home. You get used to rain in Glasgow, but that was as bad as you’d ever see. And we had the same again on the Sunday!

The forecast looked bad yesterday, but it seems the rain has arrived earlier than expected and might clear earlier too. Hopefully although there might be rain during the day tomorrow, it won’t be too much. I’m sure they’ll do everything possible to keep this on because we’re really short of available dates now. Not sure if next Friday (17th) is an option if required, otherwise we might need to try and find a completely different weekday to get things in.

We've really been caught with our pants down without Ullrich. Sam did really well at reserve but has struggled since moving up the order; Sedgmen's best match was the one after he was told he'd be let go; Craig's been a bit up and down and never quite hit the heights we're used to (although he still managed to bag good points most of the time); the others have been very inconsistent. The wheels have just come off a bit the last few weeks, and three weeks of home cancellations probably didn't help. It happens. Hopefully we get entertained in the remaining meetings, even if it's not going our way.

I'm not complaining, but I get the feeling the ref decided toake the home fans happy by giving second to Sedgmen in heat 11. I'm not convinced he did hold on!

Knew exactly what he was doing.

That's good to know, but relies on a different mobile and TV device...

I had the same issues tonight, and for the Kent meeting too. Not sure what the issue is - probably an issue with the source stream and codecs. But I cut my losses and just used a laptop instead.

I thought it was really good. The documentary was commissioned by the club, so of course it's going to come from that perspective. That's completely understandable. If I could change one thing, I would add a bit more on-track action, or flashpoints. The final heat at Berwick (part of the double-header with Edinburgh) got pretty feisty between the fans in turn one almost as much as it did on the green. And the loss at Eastbourne was significant because it was the Knockout Cup. It seems to me that some people just want to knock it because it's Glasgow and/or the Facennas. I grew up in earshot of Rye House Stadium. I've seen them fold twice in my lifetime. I've lived in Sheffield and followed the Tigers there; I live in Glasgow now and happily follow them, and although they'll never be the Rockets, and I'd love to see them back again, I can't knock the difference they've made to the stadium at Ashfield. The racing is first class too. When I compare the transformation of Ashfield to the dump Rye House Stadium had turned in to by the time they closed again in 2018, they're world's apart. I'm glad I have a team I can watch here. So the documentary might err on the side of navel gazing at times, but I'm glad they've developed a speedway product they can sell to the city. And surely that's the point of this documentary, to build on that?

Perhaps, but in their favour, it’s not exactly a passing track, when I’ve been there at least. If they can gate well, every chance of holding position. And isn’t it one of the longer tracks in the league? Must be a bit of a pain for visiting riders setup-wise, compared to other tracks.

Congratulations to Leicester. They kept their nerves on the night, and it didn't really look like the Tigers did in the first half. I brought along a friend who'd never been to speedway before, and as we were walking up I said I'd be comfortable with a ten-point deficit, but I thought twelve was probably just too much. After the meeting, you left thinking for all the points left on the shale, it would have been possible to overturn potentially sixteen or eighteen points, which given the results between the sides earlier in the season, I wouldn't have expected. The top heavy nature of the Glasgow team did come a bit unstuck at times, but Sam Jensen crashing in his first three rides, and Rasmus Jensen crashing in his first ride, were much more the difference really. Mechanical issues can't always be avoided, but you have to keep your head and stay upright, and the Lions made sure they did. The track was slicker and slower than normal, but the riders were practising on Monday so you'd expect them to be adjusted for it. Ellis Perks was fantastic all night, and did it was only fitting the way he won the tie for the Lions in heat 14. And when you've won the title, as far as I'm concerned, you can do as many victory laps as you've got fuel in the tank for – I know I'd want to! As someone who's originally from Hoddesdon and has seen the Rockets fold twice, I'm just glad to have a speedway team to watch, and the racing at Ashfield is always fabulous.