NJC71

Looked a mismatch on paper and proved to be so. Australia had a very weak team against a GB team with 4 number 1 riders in Cook, Barker, Worrall and Lawson who all fly around Brough. What Australia didn't need was Josh Auty flying out of the start and having easily his best meeting here and Howarth having one of his good Brough Park days. Australia really needed Doyle, Morris and Grajczonek to make this a contest and it's a shame they were unavailable. With that in mind I would like to have seen GB use a couple of younger riders, e.g. Lewis Kerr & Lewis Blackbird. There are a couple of riders in the GB team who are never going to be more than PL heat leaders so why not take the opportunity to give some of the less experienced riders a chance, especially against such weak opposition.

Good performance by the Diamonds tonight against a disappointing Redcar side who just don't seem to be able to perform at Brough. All six of the Diamonds rode well, maybe Tully has looked quicker but Richie shrugged of any injury worries with a classy max, Robbo again looked quick and whatever Ludvig did to his bikes after that unfortunate exclusion he needs to remember and stick with it as he’s was absolutely flying by the end, looking quicker than he has since that early season purple patch. For the Bears it was a familiar Brough story. Ostergaard always rides well here and he had another fine night. Expected more from Wilko, given recent form and on a track that should have suited him and Summers, who can ride well here was very ordinary again. Dyer has still not sussed out Brough and although he has won the odd heat here it’s been at reserve. He was exposed at number 4 and was packed up and gone by heat 14. Injured I assume..... Kus was Kus. Enough said. So welcome to the Diamonds ranks Anton Rosen. Good decision by the promotion to make the signing which on the face of it looks impressive. Just 21 and scoring useful points in the strong Swedish Elite league. He’ll obviously need time to settle around Brough but I think it’s a good move and if all works well he could be a good signing for this year and perhaps 2014.

Almost a re-run of the KOC Cup meeting with only Wells and the guest number 1 providing any threat although I have to say Facundo Albin gave absolutely everything in every race and his 1 point return does not reflect his efforts. Awful crash for both of the Sheffield lads in heat 2 and it was a relief to see them both walk away from it although Koppe aggravated his injury and pulled out after bravely attempting to carry on. Roynon was a little bit better than the cup match but Haines was I'm afraid well off the pace. As for Andre, well he's not had a really good match at Brough since he left us all those years ago and again struggled tonight. He actually looked quicker in the after meeting demo ride with Robbo. Far too easy for the Diamonds but they took full advantage. Need to hope Henry returns soon though as rider replacement will make us vulnerable against stronger opposition with Richie and Ludo unable to take a ride. Great to see the young lads riding afterwards. Only saw the first 3 heats but glad to see young Lewis pick himself up after that altercation with the backstraight fence. Credit to TS and all those involved. Very encouraging to see lads as young as this riding around Brough.

Not a bad result. That must be Tully's best meeting at Sheffield by a mile. Shame we folded in the last 4 heats. 4 points up a point should have been the least we expected. Heat 12 was a killer and I agree Kerr should have been in that race.

Should be an easy home win. Similar Diamonds team to the Berwick match with Tully effectively replacing Henry. Henry though scored paid 13 from 5 at Berwick. Tully is woeful around Sheffield and with reduced options for r/r I can only see a home win by at least 10.

A bit surprised as the forecast from 4pm onwards is sunshine. Assume that is too late to get the track ready.

Another twist in this rather crazy season but not a surprising one. Always thought this would be tough for the Diamonds without Henry and so it proved. That said I thought we again threw this one away. Richie too keen to gate against Doyle twice moved, the second time through the tapes with unbelievably his replacement Lewis doing exactly the same thing. That 5-1 to Somerset was crucial. We then dropped, at least on the face of it, an absolute clanger in not replacing Schramm with Kerr in heat 14. I feel sure Kerr would have beaten both the poor Davies and Blackbird giving us a match winning 5-1. I just cannot understand why that change wasn’t made. At least Richie made amends with a storming win in heat 15. We are generally brilliant away but vulnerable at home with not enough riders winning heats to back up Richie. Ludo finished well but had another poor home night while Robbo I’m afraid doesn’t gate well enough to ride at number 1.

Tough one for the Diamonds without Henry. Doyle is as good around Brough as Barker or Cook, Morris and Josh are pretty handy around here as well. They will present a real challenge to the Diamonds top 4 and we'll need all of them on top form. Key will be how well Kyle, Davies and the two guest reserves go. Davies hasn't done much here in the past but has improved a lot over the last 12 months. I think this is a real tough one for us and despite Fridays fantastic win at Edinburgh I wouldn't be surprised if the Rebels take at least a point.

I can understand why you'd think r/r makes us stronger at at track like Armadale where Henry doesn't have a great record but it certainly won't at Brough where other than Richie he is our most consistent performer. I'm a little concerned it will make us vulnerable at Brough where of course Ipswich & Edinburgh have already collected results this season, particularly if one of others has an off night. Immediate test of that when Somerset arrive tomorrow and another next week with the Monarchs in town.

Stunning performance from the Diamonds tonight. Ok so we no doubt gained with r/r but let's not forget Tully ef while on a 5-1 and an Edinburgh tactical. Expect Tully to score heavily at Edinburgh but to beat Cook three times out of three is some effort. Ludo likewise. He's taken plenty of stick recently but that's as good a performance as he's put in for us. Awesome result

Best of luck to Steve. Been badly out of form this season but really hope he score some points for the Bears.

I'm sure everyone agrees but I guess the question is how do they get reliable contracts? I wouldn't imagine it's particularly easy to get a foot in the door in Poland. The BSPA has to do more. Rob Lyon was doing absolutely the right thing in blooding youngsters but he clearly hit a brick wall with the BSPA when it came to funding etc. Certainly the impression is that the Danes and Poles get far more support from their Governing bodies than the Birtish riders do. In terms of the team, like others I just couldn't understand what Middleditch was doing picking Kennett. No disrespect but he is well behind the likes of Barker, King, Bridger and even Cook & Worrall on current form. He has not pulled up any trees in the PL let alone the EL. It was as if he'd picked the first names that came into his head without giving it any thought at all. It was a wasted opportunity to blood a younger rider. We can't win whoever we pick but at least show some creativity and give the younger riders some experience and a chance to show what they can do. I was disappointed with Cook last night, but it will be invaluable experience for him and make him realise how far he has to go if he's going to make it at International level. I would have picked Worrall last night, especially with it being at King's Lynn. He isn't anywhere near the finished article yet but likewise it would have given him that vital experience. No problem though with Barker and Bridger coming in. Neither has had real opportunities at this level so no harm in giving them a chance.

Wells rides Brough well and is normally good for 9 or 10 points. Haines struggled here when briefly a Diamond although he was just coming back from injury. Lawson can be quality around Brough - if he gates. Hall can ride the place if the outside line is working but I don't remember him having a really good meeting here. All in all I don't think Sheffield have enough to trouble the Diamonds and certainly don't have a big enough advantage. Hope for some good racing though.

More than happy with that. First really good show from Richie around Sheffield which is good to see. Robbo, Henry and Schramm all doing their jobs well and another superb away showing from Lewis Kerr who has not had a bad match on the road this season. Was worried about the Tully/Lindgren pairing before hand and so it proved although at Least Lindgren managed to beat the reserves. This is why I personally would have had Ned in the team as he was so reliable on the road. Good result though and should be more than enough for the second leg.

Probably because we have such an awful record at Sheffield. Other than a Lemon/Bach/Larsen inspired win down there in 2010 we have generally been stuffed in all competitions. Sheffield on paper look quite decent now but hopefully we'll do enough tonight to enable the win over two legs. I would be over the moon with 40. The Tully/Lindgren pair worries me tonight as neither have great records on big fast tacks. Hope they prove me wrong.

Not a meeting to remember. Expected the Diamonds to win comfortably but had also expected Doolan and particularly Nelson to provide good opposition and in Nelson’s case plenty of entertainment after his spectacular performances here a couple of years ago. Unfortunately both had pretty dismal nights with only Mellgren, in patches, providing any kind of threat. Indeed had Henry and Lindgren not packed up while comfortably leading their opening rides then this would have been even more one sided. At least Lindgren, even accounting for the mediocre opposition, looked a lot better tonight – just frustrating that he didn’t have this form in the last two home matches. Lewis Kerr also had a much better home night after an opening race fall and Chris Schramm battled hard and picked up a solid paid win in his final ride. Richie was a class above everyone else despite not gating as well as normal. Busy weekend next week for the Diamonds and a good opportunity to reach the League Cup Final against an injury hit Sheffield side. Looking at the averages they won’t be able to use Barker or Cook up here now and Cook is riding next Sunday anyway.

Great effort from Somerset having lost Kyle and with an inexperienced NL rider at reserve. Dreadful display from the Diamonds though. Picked up an away win at a struggling Rye House last week but in general we seem to have completely lost our spark in recent weeks. With Rye House visiting Brough for the return fixture on Sunday we have a chance to get going again and we need to. Lindgren in particular needs to sort himself out. Started the season superbly but has looked badly out of sorts for a good while now. We really need him to find some form although that was poor all-round from the Diamonds tonight.

Yep shame for Steve as he is clearly a much better rider than we've seen this season. He has though struggled badly lately and I'm not surprised at his decision as his confidence must be low and he can't be earning much at the moment. Easy to forget it's not long since he broke his leg so hopefully the break from PL racing will do him good and he can perhaps come back to the PL before the end of the season. Chris Schramm looks a good replacement. Injuries/loss of form et al has made him available on a very low average for a rider of his ability so we have to hope he can find some form again at Brough. If he does we'll be significantly stronger.

A few showers this morning but at the moment it's dry and bright and very windy.

Very similar to last week. A team arrived at Brough with an outstanding number 1, a lively reserve and other riders gating and winning on a slick and smooth track. What Ipswich so nearly did last week, Edinburgh did tonight against a Diamonds side which at the moment is carrying two or three out form riders. Famed for our gating on our travels that’s the second week in a row where we’ve been consistently out gated. But that is not the only problem. Henry had a poor match tonight but to be fair that’s his first real poor one at home. Lindgren though is completely out of sorts. He is slow out of the starts and looks anything but smooth on the track. For the second week in a row he made a complete hash of heat 14. A month ago he would have won both of those races easily but I feared the worst tonight which shows how much his stock has fallen recently. I would certainly make a change to the riding order and swap Henry and Tully around. The team just looks like it needs freshened up a bit at the moment, if anything some of the riders look a little jaded at the moment and one or two are perhaps riding too much. Have to say Edinburgh deserved the win. Cook was if anything even more impressive than Barker last week. Certainly one of the best performances I’ve seen at Brough from a visiting rider. Richie should have beaten him in heat 13 but made a poor decision to ride tight off the last bend having ridden perfectly for 3 and half laps. To be fair though Cook never let him get away and was ready to pounce on any error. So two winless home matches in a row and despite our continued excellent away form there are fairly obvious weaknesses in the team that need to be sorted although not every team is as strong and suited to Brough as Ipswich and Edinburgh are. Last comment for me is on the track. I wonder if it is so smooth now that it if anything is too easy for visiting riders to ride. It doesn’t seem to hold any fears for anyone at the moment. Maybe if it was prepared with a little more grip we’d get more of a home advantage.

Ludvig ain't scoring ok in the Elite. Seems to have gone off the boil everywhere.

Bit harsh on the Diamonds to say one draw is a slump in form, or the Monarchs for that matter after a defeat when missing their no 2 rider. Agree that they should be two cracking matches as Edinburgh v Newcastle matches generally are.

Deserved draw for a determined and aggressive Ipswich side who might even think they could have won. Got to say Ben Barker was phenomenal tonight. Rode hard but fair and his passes over Robbo in heat 13 and Richie in heat 15 were awesome. Despite his display perhaps the unexpected points picked up by Hawkins, Risager and Heeps were the key with none of those three having shown any real form here before. For us Ludvig had a really poor night and again did not look the smooth and fast rider he did earlier in the season despite a good opening ride. He made a real mess of heat 14 which was a heat he really should be winning with ease. Steve’s struggles came to a head tonight and a tough decision might need to be made for his sake as well as the teams. I’ve always been in the camp of sticking with him but I’m not so sure after tonight as his confidence just looks shot. There is no obvious replacement so I’m sure he’ll continue but I really feal for him at the moment. A couple of points dropped is no disaster for the Diamonds with others also slipping up this weekend but certainly we need to get Ludvig in particular back to form soon.

To be fair Barker has been a little disappointing at Ipswich so far this season (although he seems to going well at Berwick tonight). Harsh to say he has been poor but certainly not as dominant as the Witches fans had expected. Should be a good match. I expect Barker and Leigh Lanham, who is a track specialist and like David Howe seems to relish riding here, to give the Diamonds plenty to think about. Tungate rode well here in the PL match at reserve but had a dreadful match in the Cup Final when out of form. I think he's the only other rider who might win races though. Looking forward to seeing Tully ride after an excellent comeback. Brough holds no fears for him so wouldn't be surprised to see him winning races quickly. Decent opportunity here for Steve to pick up some points after his recent poor run. 54-40.

I think cyclone writing Edinburgh off is tongue in cheek. We lost at Glasgow, Edinburgh put 60 past them. Need to see how the Monarchs adapt to Tabaka moving into the top 5. He'll still score well just like Dyer is doing at Redcar but the key will be how well Fricke scores. He certainly has the talent. Whatever, if both teams are at full strength they should be classics like the 2010/11 clashes. Somerset lost at a strong Redcar side tonight but I would still expect them to be in the play-offs. Leicester are setting the pace but I don’t see them as title winners. Redcar are a real dark-horse and another I expect in the play-offs. Unfortunately injuries will probably play a big part but the PL is warming up nicely.