BobC

Better meeting than the score suggests. What has happened to Cookie? Hugely disappointing. Never looked like winning a race. Didnt understand him getting the TS, when at that point Nicol was far better. I said previously that I was impressed with Nicol when he guested here earlier. Same again tonight. Always in the thick of things. Unlucky to get excluded for tapes, when 2 others moved as well, including Cook. Winning Ht15 by a good 30 meters or so, when he shed a chain or similar going into bend 3 last lap and crashed heavily. Hope he is ok? Thank you to the Tigers fans who stopped us by the start after the meeting. They congratulated us on our victory and wished us well in the play offs. Safe journey to Leicester and then home to all of them. Gracious in defeat.

Kyle Bickley wasnt ill as such. There was a covid issue within his family, not him directly.

I heard before midday yesterday about possible changes to the riding order. Strange to say the least.

Excellent that the Cheetahs appear to be on the road to a comeback. Really enjoyed the 2007 NL season. Glad you mention Mike Kilby. Swindon v Poole mid 70's. Before this, Martin Ashby v Tommy Jansson in the Golden Helmet. Great times. Mike had gone home after the Helmet races and before Ht8 and had returned with photos from that! As you say, great photos and smashing family.

We already have a KO Cup anyway. No need for a different competition. Its known as the Play Offs.

I made my comment about Matt Ford almost 2hrs before he put in an appearance on the centre green. You know, while we had absolutely nothing going on and long before we had any announcement about the problems. Even though it was clear to us all what was wrong. Very poor communication at the time. Matt Ford went on to say about 'having track issues for the last 10 years'. Talk about stating the obvious. Sorry, but thats not good enough, is it? Steve has covered everything that needed to be said. I still feel embarrassed the morning after. Track like a battlefield before Ht1, dusty after the repair too, but not as bad Wednesday. It never really got a lot better. The fans deserve better. More importantly, the riders deserve better.

Matt Ford is here. Soon disappeared when problems started.

Not a lot to say, tbh. Just plain bloody embarrassing.

No he doesnt! His 4th away meeting for Poole was at Edinburgh, which was AFTER the cut of date for September. See my post above.

Ben has only ridden in 3 League away meetings. Glasgow, Plymouth and Redcar. Edinburgh was his 4th. His home match average is 8.94. His away average before Edinburgh was 5.88 Include Edinburgh it goes up to 5.92. All unofficial figures just a quick look via Speedway updates webpage. I stand to be corrected on any issue.

Go to Edinburgh website. https://www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk/emtv

Therein lies the problem. Of course it was good at the start of the season. It had laid dormant for best part of 18 months, so had plenty of time to level itself out. Since then, it has steadily got worse. Seems to be very rutted. The extra track work after Ht8 did help a little, but riders were still being thrown in all directions. Have we had any new shale? It seems like its still just fine dust being thrown up. Is there anything that helps it bind properly? I am no track expert, but the last few weeks have not been good. Its been said already, there were no discussions regarding watering on Wednesday. (from Clerk of the Course). We have the team to do the business. Im in no doubt about that. All they need is a decent canvas to work on. Hard.Fast and above all consistent.

Rather rude and patronising to a 16 year old. The lad showed true grit and determination to get that point. The conditions were awful. He could easily have simply ridden round for a point. He didnt, he tried hard and fell. He could have given up, like several others had previously. To pick his bike up and get going again is a credit to his training at Newcastle. I was well aware of that being his first ever point at this level. How many others realised this? Very pleased he got it. I applauded his effort. The first of many many more. Personally, I love to see new riders come in and follow their progress. Archie is one whos results I look for. Being thrown in at the deep end is very difficult for him. Getting hammered as well, it wouldnt have been a good feeling for him. He performed professionally. Well done Archie. You did alright.

Master of the understatement there, Rob! No fault of Newcastle.

Oh dear. The track was total garbage, and not for the first time this season. Its actually getting worse. Before a wheel had been turned you kind of thought it would be one sided. Sadly, that was the case. However, I would still like to see all 4 riders in each race for all 4 laps. Riders seemed to 'go missing' then re appear from the dust. It was awful. A bit surprised that referee Chris Durno didnt slap the 2 minutes on more than he did. If only to get it over and done with. No point in putting the boot in to Newcastle, they know their limitations and getting to the end of the season is their main objective. Feel for the Diamonds supporters. However I am totally fed up with excuse after excuse regarding our track preparation. Same goes for the scoreboard. Same old excuses, week after week. Its embarrassing. Big crowd, beautiful evening, perfect for showing all that is good with speedway. Not a chance with that track While Basso tried too hard at times, the track certainly didnt help. Throwing riders all over the place. Just pleased that every rider got away safely. Gawd knows what track surface we will get on Sunday afternoon v Birmingham. No need for sun cream, you will probably leave with a 'dust' tan anyway.