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It had all the hallmarks of a Stoke programme, in that it was the same layout, same font, copy and pasted from previous programs. If it wasn't a Stoke program, it was a darn good copy.

It depends what you mean by most improved. If you mean purely on average, then Starke would come in behind Rob Lambert and Adam Ellis, both of whom started on 3 and are currently 10+. However, we had no real way of gauging their improvement as it is their first season. Starke has been around for a few years, and always had the ability as long as he had the machinery. Lewis Kerr has been the bigger shock for me, given that he looked alright last season, but has done fantastically well this season. Charles Wright has hit a real purple patch, and Liam Carr has put 3 points on his average. Even someone like Josh Bates has put a large chunk on his average, but people don't mention him.

I was lucky enough to have attended both the pairs and 4's this season, along with the PL 4's from Peterborough. The meetings from Mildenhall and Peterborough both had the same fatal flaw in that, while the track was well prepared to start with, the baking hot sun caused both to be dust bowls by the end of the meeting. They at least provided good racing throughout the first half of the meeting though. With the NL 4's, although the track was safer than last year, it was too dry to begin with, and track grading became a preventative measure to keep the dust down, as opposed to a way of making sure the track continued to be in top shape. Personally, I hope Stoke don't get the NL 4's next season, because we continually show that we are not up to running it. Contrast that with the good meetings I saw for the British U21's at Dudley/Wolves and the NL Pairs, and it shows Stoke up for being a poor promotion.

I wasn't really complaining about the delay in announcing the riders, as I appreciate that this is a job that needs doing correctly. As far as I was aware, teams bid however much they want to pay to host the meeting, and then they keep the proceeds? The programs were definitely a Stoke thing, as they had Dave Tattum's thoughts in, as opposed to a neutral program. The fact that there was no meeting sponsor reflects badly on Stoke, and the fact that the program was not fit for the purpose again falls on Stoke. The track not being right is another Stoke issue, whereas the meeting itself was run relatively smoothly. There were obvious delays while the final line up was sorted, and after crashes, but the riders were quickly on 2 minutes after every race, with grading every 4 races. That seemed a very reasonable amount of grading, especially given the fact that the sun came out at one point.

Well. I'm going to start by saying what a waste of money that meeting was. Anyway, as a more in depth review: Semi final one saw KL looking good, streaking into an early lead, and not risking anything in the later heats. Mildenhall took advantage of some mistakes from other teams to steal second place in the group. The IoW must be disappointed with the return from Ellis, while Coventry will be cursing injuries and PL commitments. Semi final B saw Dudley start badly, but then find their feet, while Kent and Stoke battled for the second place. Unfortunately for Stoke, Lee Payne came up against Steve Boxall in heat 8, and that was that. A good effort from the home team, but just not enough. Onto the final, and after a delay while Kings Lynn sorted their team out, we were off. 4 heats later, we were back where we started, without any passing. Always a fun way to spend half an hour. After that, Dudley and Kent pulled away (Even thanks to a bit of help from the ref. Thank goodness that didn't affect the final outcome) and it all came down to the final race. On a track that offered one racing line, and even that wasn't a good one, Steve Boxall came from the graveyard of gate 2 and couldn't overhaul Blackbird. So, the meeting. The racing was terrible. I recall 2 passes (Sarjeant going around everyone, and Charles Wright in one of the first heats) which is terrible. While the dust was controlled, there just seemed to be no dirt whatsoever on the track. The program was a waste of £1, as it was error strewn, and had no score cards for the final. Also, there was no space to put a race off result. Little things that should not occur. From a point of view as a Stoke fan, it was a joke that the program contained no adverts, and that the meeting didn't have a sponsor. Nice to see our commercial manager earning her money. All in all, a meeting bereft of racing, made slightly more interesting by the close score. I feel gutted for Kent as I honestly believed they had a chance of winning, but overall, it wasn't a meeting worth £15.

Unfortunately the injuries appear to have taken their toll on Lee, who wasn't the rider who thrilled the Stoke fans in 2010. While he can still ride a bike, it often looked like he was going through the motions, and if he didn't make the gate, he didn't appear to want to take the risks he took before his injuries. A shame, but we move on. Good luck to him in the future, and he will always be held in high regards by Stoke fans for his PL performances for us.

As things stand, we have Buxton in the league next Saturday, then no league meeting for 2 weeks, when our averages are due to drop by around 4 points. If we are going to make changes, surely this is the time to make them. Ben Reade is out for the season according to the press release, so we will have a couple of ways we could go. Lee is scoring, just not as a number 1 should be.

If memory serves he wasn't at the meeting. Bronze helmet is run poorly IMO as it should be defended every meeting, against the top scorer, after heat 15. Why only defend it once a month? Ridiculous

As I posted earlier, I wasn't surprised by the awarding of heat 11 as there was nothing riding on it. IoW needed to gain an advantage from that race to beat Stoke out for second place, and as soon as their rider fell and was to be excluded, there was no way of that happening. Unfortunately, by awarding that race, the referee set a precedent that he then didn't follow in the race after. It very much looked like one rule for one, and one for another, even though I am sure that was not the intended consequence. And Jaybea, Halsey was around the length of the straight behind the very quick Branford, with what would have been a lap to go. I think it is fair to say that he wouldn't have caught him. The awarding or non awarding isn't really the issue, the complaint that Coventry must surely have is that in similar situations, the race was awarded, and it was only in this race that it wasn't. The ref made his decision when he awarded heat 11, and should have continued to stick with that decision through to the end of the meeting.

Firstly, what a fantastic meeting it was. An absolute credit to NL speedway, and Halseys race in heat 12 was worth the entrance money alone. Now, the incident. Personally, I think the referee let himself down with a lack of consistency. Awarding the race before had no impact whatsoever, as once the IoW rider was excluded, there was no way they could catch Stoke so there was nothing riding on the heat. Unfortunately, having made that decision, he should have been consistent in awarding races. Unfortunately, the only race in which a re-run was ordered was heat 12, and Coventry feel hard done by because it cost them. In reality, they messed up their tactics in that race, as they were too busy worrying about where Halsey was going and trying to block him. Had they ridden their own race, it could well have been a different story. However, as much as I am sure the Coventry management were annoyed at the decision, they did let themselves down in their actions afterwards. There was no need for Blayne Scroggins to go marching up the track to applaud the referee, and the pushing and shoving in the pits wasn't sensible either. As odd as it sounds, I am glad the referee made the decision, as it meant we could have the heat 12, and all the emotions attached to it. As for the rest of the meeting, Stoke rode their luck into the final, but even that was more than I expected. KL suffered with Worrall falling when leading a couple of races, and IoW suffered from not having Tom Perry. Dudley recovered easily from the opening heat EF, with Morris looking especially classy in passing both Stoke riders. In the other group, Kent and Buxton had the same problem, in that their second rider was off the pace to start, but Kent managed to scrape through an incredibly close group with the best rider on show. In the final, it was always Dudleys for the taking, and they did their part in not getting any last places. However, after having a poor meeting, who could have forseen Luke Priest being the last heat hero for Dudley, passing Halsey and holding on for the win. It was quite nice to hear a pin drop down by the pits as the Mildenhall fans around me went oddly quiet, and giving the bumps to Luke was a nice touch All in all, a fantastic meeting, and Stoke will have a lot to do for the 4's if they want to match it.

Alas, we haven't been able to have a supporters club since the promotion shut it down. They also don't like us collecting for individual riders.

Blew 2 engines last week, managed to cobble one together for tonight, and it broke.

Shambolic from Stoke. The promotion needs to sell up and fast, because they are dragging stoke to its grave

Not a chance. Stoke are a terrible team away from home, and had been further handicapped by the loss of Lee Payne. Dudley or IoW would have scored around the same at home, but done much better at Kings Lynn. KL are an average side now that Lewis Rose has moved up, who become a very good side with Lambert in the team.

Well it is accurate in a riding sense. He was riding exclusively on the continent, and he has come over to this league. I would argue in that sense, it is perfectly accurate. As for the PL/EL argument, it was being discussed for next season, with the knowledge that he can't ride in higher leagues until he hits 16. Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if Robert happened to only do home meetings all season, which would be an absolute travesty. When I heard he had been declared in the KL team, I was really looking forward to seeing him at Stoke, the fact that he wasn't there and no explanation given for that doesn't sit right with me.

I know, the debate is an interesting one. For me, he should follow the PL route. Holder, Ward and Woffinden all did it and look at them now. Take a season in the PL and guest towards the end of the season when he has that bit more experience in the UK.

Riding in Britain. He could quite easily have continued to ride on the continent against better riders, and come into the PL when he turned 16. Instead, he has made the choice to ride in Britain as well. Thus far he has ridden in 2 home meetings, while missing the Stoke away meeting. He needs to ride at more than just KL, or he is wasting his time. Unless of course he is on a financial package that puts the NL to shame.

Fair enough, just curious as to having a track grading break, then the interval in the next heat! As for Lambert, it wouldn't hurt him to have a season or 2 in the PL. It did Tai Woffinden no harm, and not taking a season probably harmed Lewis Bridger in the long run. Either way, he needs to ride more than just KL, or this whole experiment of him coming over seems a bit pointless.

Embarassing from Stoke, but I expect nothing less away from home. I know it didn't make any difference, but anyone care to explain the comments on the updates about messing around with Reade's gate for 10 minutes before his TR ride? And Semion, for all I care Mr Tattum can take a running jump, and hopefully drag the former Mrs Tattum with him. They will be the death of Stoke speedway.

Stoke has never been comparable to the ritz, and given that our normal centre green announcer was in the box doing the results, the presentation wouldn't be the best. However, the air fence didn't just magically collapse, if you remember someone hit it (I think it was Payne in heat 12, and it was going down just before heat 13)

Interesting. Track wasn't at its best, but those who attacked it got their rewards, as proven with Kyle Hughes posting quick times. To say it was in its "Worst state ever" is a bit much. From a fans PoV, the falls mainly came about through inexperience, other than potentially the heat 12 incident where both KL riders lifted on bend 3. Unfortunately for KL, most of the time Stoke were out of the gate quicker, and they didn't seem able to pass. Lewis Kerr had a terrible meeting, with two EF's (Of which I am sure the track was to blame...) and a fall, but it was a team who just wasn't at the races. I can't comment on the pits situation, because I am not privy to what goes on there, other than to say I presume Mr Allitt has offered to pay for the telephone that he broke in the pits? My thoughts on the Stoke promotion have been made clear in other threads, so I'm not going to go back over them here. As for Saturday, given that it currently appears to be monsoon season outside, it may not be possible to judge for yourself!

Don't forget, NL promoters aren't at the PL/EL meeting (Unless they promote a PL/EL club as well)

I hope they are planning another change, because with respect, that team will get hammered, home and away.

But why would you risk it? The meetings start at 7, so are normally done by 9, which means that the MDL meeting has an hour, if needed. Normally takes around 20 minutes. Unfortunately, if the meeting ends at 9:45, by the time you have had the results of heat 15 etc, you are looking at closer to 9:50. One fall in the MDL meeting and that's that, it has to be abandoned. We seem to have a relatively good relationship with the council and local residents, why risk it?

Given that the main meeting didn't finish until 9:45, with a 10pm curfew, make your own conclusion.