NJC71

Agreed. But if we want to watch Robert Lambert every week that's the price we'll have to pay. Been worth it so far I have to say.

Gutted. Goes without saying had Stevie been riding we would probably have taken all 4 points. Great effort though. He is normally good at Edinburgh, scored 11 there for Berwick a few weeks ago. Maybe not fit after last night, in which case he probably shouldn't have ridden.

Next Monday will be a different ball game. Glasgow at home with no Lambert and perhaps even more significantly, no Lewis Rose. Lewis is completely irreplaceable on a 3.86 average given he's averaging double that at home. Liam Carr is probably our only option which will leave us very vulnerable if the Glasgow bottom 3 take to the track. Don't understand why we are holding one of our biggest and toughest home matches of the season on an off race night without two such crucial riders.

I see we once gain have fixtures this weekend that clash with Belle Vue & King's Lynn. No Steve Worrall at Edinburgh on Friday (what a place to be without Steve) and presumably no Lambert & Rose on Monday - assuming Steve can dash to Brough from Belle Vue. Not good for 2 of our biggest matches of the season.

Good meeting on a nice night. Nice to watch a meeting with two seven man teams for a change . Berwick are good value around Brough and again gave the Diamonds a good match with all seven riders on the pace. Not for this first time here, Alden was excellent, he just lacked back-up. Pjiper, by his standards had an average meeting and none of the others ever really looked like winning a heat. The Bandits are a very decent side but just look one rider short to me with one too many 6 point riders and one heat leader short. As for the Diamonds, Palovaara was decent and needs time to get dialled-in to the track but I don't think he will get near to the points we were getting from Tero. Sounds like Tero could be missing for the season - I really hope that's not the case. Danny had his first home nil of the season against a good Bandits reserve pairing and Kus was disappointing. The other 4 rode and scored well, Lambert certainly not helped by getting practically dragged off his bike by Bager in his third ride. Steve Worrall is absolutely flying and probably should have had a paid max, leaving Alden too much room in his one defeat. Man of the meeting though goes to the skipper. How an earth he managed to stay on his bike and remain in front in heat 15 will remain a mystery.

Great win for the Diamonds but t don't think this was due to guests. Richie always does a good job for us and Ben rode well after a slow start. Big thanks to both but Robert and Kus fly around Berwick, reasonable assumption to think we would have won anyway, possibly without a TR. Big mention to Stevie who is in top, top form and to our reserves who did well tonight.

Don't disagree with any of that although there are inconsistencies with their approach to doubling up. Given the number of PL tracks that ride on a Thursday & Friday night should any EL rider who has a home EL race night of a Thursday or Friday be allowed to double up? It appears the BSPA are only concerned about home availability but that ignores problems of availability for away matches as we are seeing with Newcastle's doubling up riders. Rob Godfrey states the criticism of the BSPA is unfair - well here's a unique idea, why not explain why a decision has been made at the same time as announcing the decision? Not hours or days later when the damage has already been done. Use some common sense.

This is exactly why speedway needs to be governed by an independent body that has no connection to a particular club or clubs. The reason behind this move being blocked is as clear as mud - quoting a not fit for purpose rule book that can clearly be manipulated to suit the situation, just leaves the BSPA (rightly or wrongly) open to accusation that there are self interests at play here. Clarity is needed urgently, if this has been done for valid and robust reasons than for god's sake explain them otherwise what's left of the credibility of the BSPA will diminish to dust. As ever it's the two most important components of speedway, the paying public and the riders that are left scratching their heads. Time for those in charge to man up and stop burying their heads in the sand.

Lambert & Kus are both riding in the GP Qualifier at King's Lynn so presumably a guest for Lambert and the dreaded r/r for Kus. Given both fly around Berwick it probably ends any chance we had. It would be nice if the BSPA and promoters would work together and arrange fixtures that would ensure teams are at full strength and avoid obvious clashes like this and Scunthopre on Bank Holiday Monday. If I was a promoter at Newcastle I wouldn't be accepting a fixture knowing there is a fair chance two of my riders would be unavailable (or 3 as it would have been on Monday had Belle Vue not been rained off). If the Newcastle promotion have no say then who is coordinating the fixture list and are they not doing basic checks to identify potential clashes? At the end of the day, as a paying supporter I want value for money and that means watching two 7 man teams. Rider replacement is a complete turn off for me. What would have been a cracker of a match will be ruined. I might have gone to Berwick to watch a full strength team but no way I am going with a guest and r/r. I get that Newcastle signed these riders knowing full well that this would probably happen so ultimately it's their problem but it's the paying public that are being cheated. Surely it can't be that difficult to arrange fixtures that would avoid this sort of clash or rearrange fixtures if necessary.

Diamonds got out of jail there. 18 points down with 3 to go we looked in big trouble. Two big 5-1's in 13 & 15. 10 points should be small enough to pull back. We need more from the reserves on the road though - particularly Lewis Rose who has been flying at Brough.

Agree. Delay the start till 5 or 6pm and no reason why Lambert, Worrall & Rose couldn't have ridden. Makes no sense whatsoever.

Kus is not a passer and never has been on this track but he's doing his job at Brough - probably better than most expected and he's winning heat 12 when he needs to. He was signed primarily to improve us on the road which needed doing. As long as he's available often enough then it looks a clever signing to me.

Another strong performance from the Diamonds. Started well and although Workington kept it reasonably close up to heat 12, the Diamonds always looked strong in the last 3 heats as it proved. So by my reckoning the Diamonds and Comets both stand at +11 in race points. Both will expect to win at Redcar but with Redcar still to visit Brough, the Diamonds look in pole position to qualify. Job needs to be done on Thursday though but with no EL matches we should be at full strength - minus Tero. Real shame about Tero, hopefully he'll be back sooner rather than later but if it's going to be a while then a replacement would be better than r/r. Easier said than done of course. Like others have said, praying for some better news on Kenni.

Notice that Lewis Rose was missing from the King's Lynn side last not due to 'not feeling 100%'. Any idea if he will be riding tonight?

Strong top 3 for the Dianonds but Lewis Rose will have to have a really good night for us to have any chance of picking up a point or two. With r/r again for Tero he'll provably need to take 7 rides.

Very impressed with the Diamonds tonight. Once Steve got his bike going we pulled well clear off a very decent Berwick side who have several riders who have good records at Brough. Robert Lambert was absolutely superb and his partnership with Steve in heats 13 & 15 looks the most formidable pairing we've had since the Larsen, Bach, Lemo season. With excellent back-up from Lude, Kus and the very impressive Lewis Rose we looked a very strong outfit tonight. IF we can sort out Tero's injury problem (which is a worry) & IF we can avoid injuries & IF we can get our full 1-7 on the track enough in the away matches We could have a really good chance of being involved in the fight for the major trophies this year. Although the Diamonds ran away with it in the second half of the meeting, the Bandits look a competitive outfit to me. Good quality speedway meeting.

I accept that it's a difficult one for promoters as there clearly aren't enough available riders - hence riders doubling up/down is probably a necessary evil. A combination of the GP, plus Polish and Swedish leagues now running on multiple race days makes it even worse. The EL teams face a continued struggle in putting teams together and given that backdrop it's hardly surprising they have insisted they have priority in the use of their own assets. As a result its imperative that the British clubs work better together to compile a fixture list that ensures teams are at full strength as often as possible. I just can't understand why tonight's fixture is going ahead, it shouldn't be allowed to happen. Speedway promoters need to realise that peeople simply won't pay money to watch matches where guests and rider replacement are heavily used. It's almost the exception rather than the rule to see two teams tracking 7 riders each. Hard to see what the solution is but it can't continue. Is running a meeting every week really viable nowadays? Is it time to consider home matches on alternative weeks? Running every other week would presumably cut costs and give promoters more flexibility when arranging/re-arranging fixtures.

I can only assume the King's Lynn fixture was arranged after this one. But even if it was, surely this fixture should have been re-arranged. The Diamonds turning up with 3 riders missing (probably now 4) doesn't do the sport any good at all. No wonder attendances are on the decline.

It was cold out there and the meeting dragged on longer than I would have liked. Also quite a lot of writing for cold hands with both Aarnio and Campton pulling out after one ride. Hard then to draw any real conclusions on either side although relieved to win as it didn't look likely with two heats to go. The Diamonds were very slow out of the gate and Worrall, Lindgren and Kus all had bike problems. Lewis Rose looked a lot leaner than last year and rode very well and Danny Phillips had a decent home debut and looks good enough to pick up points. Lambert made a pleasing start - wasn't gating but made a decent one when it mattered in heat 15. Ludvig needs to get his bike sorted (same old) - not good for him to jump on a rooky reserve's bike and find it's got loads more speed than his own. Hansen was flying out of the start other than making two shockers in heat 15 (race re-run) which made Lambert's task of getting around Wells easier. Wells as ever was excellent here and Pjiper did his job. Nice to see Roynon complete a meeting here without getting badly injured.....just. Really hope he has a clear run this year. Early days but hope Tero can get his knee sorted as he's a vital component as was proved tonight. The main question for me is how often this Diamonds septet will hit the track together. Thursday is a case in point. Ok it's only a challenge but with King's Lynn scheduled to take on Belle Vue we'll presumably be without Lambert, Rose & Worrall, possibly Aarnio as well. Thursday's and Friday's look real problems for the Diamonds and with no less than 7 tracks running on those nights the Diamonds could be resembling a PL select on the road this year.

It was worth it though Dave, we won the league!

Not necessarily. Not likely Elite League clubs will have home matches every week as there aren't enough fixtures. Wolverhampton are only running every fortnight as a result. Just some careful planning needed.

Personally not concerned that Robbo has signed for Rye. Great rider in the past and great guy to have in the pits but he's had a lot of injuries over the last few seasons and hasn't looked the rider he was on recent visits. Never thought I'd say this but I'm open to the idea of Kus. Perhaps if he rode here every week he'd be more consistent at Brough and would possibly improve us on the road which is needed as we were dreadful away from home last year. A bit concerned that we look weak at reserve.

Stuart Robson signed for Rye House so it ain't him.

We have more points left than that. Simon did ok last season but I don't think he's good enough yet to ride with a 3 pointer. That would leave us very weak at reserve. Personally I disregarded Anton after a poor 2015 but he may come back into the reckoning now.

That is an exciting signing. Obvious concern is matches missed for Peterborough so hope he's 100% committed to the Diamonds and PL racing. Will trust the club on that one. That aside it gives us a strong looking top end.