MB723

Well that's going to be controversial

Hope that engine failure doesn't cost us, think Villads had at least Cook there

Same story as last time, kept them close then dropped it in the last 5 heats where a top heavy team is supposed to be strongest but I think it's still very doable on Friday. Impossible to pass and not that exciting to watch unfortunatly, our riders like sending it wide and pulling their arms out in some grip which you can't quite do here, they're also not gaters aside from Dan which doesn't help but that's home track advantage for you and it's up to our guys to work it out. I can imagine actually being there is a different story entertainment wise, the riders are close together and there was always threats of a pass. Add on a large crowd giving some atmosphere and it could be a great night, it just doesn't come across on stream well.

Hope there is drug testing tonight, Cairns said Poole's one of the best tracks in England on the track walk

Hodder 2.70, Smith 2.68 as of 01/10 so can guest both legs, might be the best guest if Freddy isn't fit for home, not sure about his Poole form though.

Fricke is the only one I agree with finishing 3 points from the top 7 to qualify automatically. Personally I think Doyle is past it at this level, still a great rider at league level but at most can maybe have one or 2 gps with a decent score. Woffy inclusion is a joke to be honest, not had a competitive race since his horrible crash (and barely any/none since the injury before it too) and back in the GPs, what basis other than popularity/sponsors is he back in?

The championship is a very huge jump from the NDL, you're riding against some premiership number 1s and riders that have been at the highest level. Max and Freddy last season were struggling for points (Max was even dropped). At the start of this season they'd have had a good meeting if they scored a point outside of heat 2 but now they're scoring 6+ points and really contributing. While they've not suddenly doubled their average like Cairns did I don't think it was really expected they would. They have definitely had a big improvement, Max and Freddy would run laps around their start of season selves, If they just had a bit better consistency and could carry their home form to more away tracks they would make a significant gain on their average but again it's a tough league so they'll need more time to build on that.

While maybe slightly over excited we scraped though to the final where we only lead the tie after heat 15 against our closest rivals after what was basically 3 do or die heats. The tension in the packed stadium was extremly high and it just released.

My opinion on play-offs is we need them with 1 home 1 away but if it was 2H2A we can scrap them, teams at the start and end of the year can be very different even if they don't have any rider changes the form of the riders can vary quite a bit so can be a bit of luck when you face another team. Weather and other things like dodgy refs can also play a part and there are too little meetings with 1H1A to negate some luck factor (not that it disappears with 2H2A). If they can't fit 2H2A then maybe even something similar to 2011s format where the top 4/5 do another round robin with the top of the overall table at the end winning. The premiership this year would have come down to a last meeting decider in Sheffield naturally had there been no playoffs but instead we got a nothing meeting to put Sheffield top which didn't matter as they'd already lost in the playoffs. Teams do agree to do play-offs though as it makes them the most money so they can't complain, at the very least the team that finishes top should get some form of trophy.

Think Victor packed up after the red lights came on so was still under power. Not sure why the red lights came on though, I thought there was maybe power issues in the ref box but not sure as it took a while for Hugh in the box to come back on.

Well done Max saved us tonight after Villads' mare, massive improvement from the last few meetings and looked more like he was before his crashes. Hope Villads can get some more of that intensive physiotherapy, didn't look particularly comfortable before the meeting and that crash definitely didn't help, credit to him though for limping round for the Ben fund collection, some fit riders skip out on it so doing it while he was obviously in pain was nice to see. Dan and Leon have come alive these last few meetings and Bomber and Kyle looking rapid. Happy the referee's blunder didn't end up mattering as that would have been a horrible way to lose for either side.

Kerr and Bowes out, Luke Killeen and Ben Trigger replace them

Well done to Poole, Cairns man of the match and the reason they are through, amazing for all his 7 rides. For Glasgow Dan and Leon were fantastic as was Bomber as usual. Kyle a duff night, not quite enough power off the bends to get the passes done unfortunately and could tell he was frustrated by it. MPT was MPT. Perry struggled for pace but well done Hodder for keeping us in with a chance, fighting (sometimes too hard) every race. JJ a great guest, Lawson wouldn't have been able to get many more points. Kerr looked like his chain snapped maybe, hopefully he's alright. While not quite enough very encouraging from most of the Tigers for Friday night if they can replicate the form with maybe Villads back we have a very good chance of overturning the 14 points.

Heat 8 might have saved the pirates

Bomber actually chose gates for heat 1, very serious business tonight

If all riders are on form it will be very difficult to claw back 14 points as all Poole riders can score big. Think the Leon and Dan pairing will be very important in determining our chances and obviously which Palm Toft shows up.

Sounds extremely ambitious for British speedway but just might work. Think of all the fans who love the colour green that that would attract.

Good they are doing it but a bit late notice to get the most watchers, you'd think they'd have advertised this at least a few days in advance?

Website's been pretty poor for a while, wouldn't be surprised if they copied in an older line up and didn't check it

Glasgow has just put an update on social media saying MPT in for Villads. Maybe they had MPT on standby to see how Villads was but they obviously had an inkling that he'd be missing.

Jeppesen a good guest but huge loss for Poole, no one would be able to equal Richard's scoring potential

Did Masters try and get Pico to jump the tapes there?

Was great to see passionate away fans making some noise on the back straight, Redcar did what they needed to do, all their riders chipped in, special shout out to Ace he has been on some form recently and showed his improvement in that excellent heat 14, can't imagine him doing that last year. Dan seemed low on power all night and Harris and Villads needed a few heats to get their equipment sorted (Villads seemed to find a rocketship between heat 6 and 8) which gave the Bears the advantage which was hard to claw back with the class of Wright and King. Hopefully this is a bit of a kick up the backside for the tigers and they can show why they finished top of the league in all the return legs.

Think maybe Fricke to go, far too late to put the red lights on though there was 0 chance of Flint clearing the track

As long as they've factored in fastest heat times on their table its a last heat decider for the title