Grachan

So, if Nick had scored 2,2,1,2 Swindon win 40-50. If you drop him 2 places and give him 1,1,0,1 I make it 41-49. I'm sure Nick could have managed 3 points.

Suppose Nick had ridden and finished one place further back than Bomber in each of his rides. That would give him 2,2,1,2 from his programmed rides. Swindon would still be 8 up going into heat 15.

So presumably Lakeside never use guests then? Nick Morris has been exceptional this year, and his average reflects that. With regards to using Harris, it's not Swindon's fault that Coventry's top 2 have been dropping their averages.

How could you tell? Nick isn't riding. So I may as well bet you that he doesn't. BTW, I reckon Nick would have scored a maximum, so let's base it on that.

Bournemouth Echo may not be the most reliable of sources, but an article there said that Matt Ford was disappointed that Ward had gone to Swindon. He said he wanted him to go to Lakeside and a deal was agreed, but Darcy said he wanted to go to Swindon.

Well done PK on a good win in the end, but don't think Tai was at fault. PK was out wide and came in onto Tai, but maybe the fact that Woffy lifted slightly just before influenced the ref. Great for Woffinden, though, despite that. He looked in trouble after 4 rides but kept a cool head as usual. Didn't even seem bothered that he'd been unfairly excluded. Just happy to have increased his lead.

Yeah, I'm seeing things. Houses. On bend 4. If they aren't in the stadium grounds then they're pretty damn close. It certainly looked to me like they were where the old route to the pits was, down from behind the main stand. Am I the only person who finds that a bit of a concern? They are going to build houses over the current stadium. They are building houses now, which will need to encroach on to where the stadium is. Yet there is no new stadium being built. What will happen? Will they suddenly just stop building these houses now, until the stadium is built? I certainly hope so, but if you were a house building company, would you wait? This has to be concern now, because the new stadium i conspicuous by its absence.

Could always start another topic. Why is Cardiff better than Pocking?

So no point having the 1 GP rider rule either then?

The current rules prevent that anyway, with the 7 point rule.

Swindon's number one was out from the first meeting! We didn't have a number one! How is that lucky? Had our number one still been in the team I'm sure he would have been dropped anyway to fit Ward in. Lakeside could have had Ward, but he didn't want to go there despite Poole agreeing the move. He chose to go to Swindon instead.

Swindon couldn't fit Ward in. They had to drop Kyle Howarth.

My memory may be playing tricks with me. Perhaps Arnieg can tell me if I'm right or not. I'm sure there was a 70s match where Doug Underwood was the only Reading rider in a side that otherwise consisted of 6 guests.

And we got rid of the away pits to give us a bigger home advantage.

That bit was perfectly fine! Just using the rules to our advantage by getting Mr Beanie in for another match so we could redeclare him before the scoundrel disappeared again. Nothing wrong with that. Guilty of question marks? Shocking stuff. If I raise question marks about Hans Andersen's average dropping does that make Coventry guilty too? Although, any manager who doesn't get his team to use the averages to his team's advantage isn't much of a manager anyway. As for Krcmar, Lord knows. But if Swindon were given a guest facility it's not Swindon's fault. There you go. Not guilty on all accounts.

Poole are pretty much nailed on second place in the league, so could maybe afford a bit of average dropping, but too much would be a risk. I can't see Holder getting down below 7 without them risking a top 2 spot, even if they do try and get him down to fit Darcy in next year. Don't see why people get so outraged about it anyway, even if Poole do do it. If team strengths are dicted by averages, then it's a perfectly legitimate tactic to ride taking those into account as far as I can see.

I wouldn't say Swindon are on a roll just yet. We had a couple of good wins at Wolve and Lakeside last week, but also had a defeat at Poole in between. We're doing ok, and still hopeful of a play off place, but I think you're over-egging the pudding there. Also, we just won at Wolves so Sod's law says we'll lose this time.

I've always tried to remain positive about the new stadium being built. But when you turn up to a match and see houses actually being built INSIDE the current stadium and no signs of a new one you suddenly realise how final things are getting. As things are, I'd say never mind next season, I reckon we should worry about completing this one. If the builders are told they have to stop building their houses because of the speedway track it only takes one to get fed up waiting and plunge his digger into the fourth bend and we're done for. At the moment I'd say that the EL could be losing Swindon, Coventry and Lakeside very soon. I don't know whose responsibility the building of the new stadium is, but they need a kick up the backside. Remember the Racino?

That'll explain why I'd never heard of him then.

Swindon Advertiser http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/13521440.SWINDON_ROBINS_50_LAKESIDE_HAMMERS_39__Guest_Branford_comes_up_trumps_as_hosts_hold_off_valiant_Hammers/

Banford rode well. I'd never heard of him but he had a couple of decent wins. Now I read the match report and it turns out he's Australian. Grateful to have a guest at reserve who could score points, but how come Australians can ride at reserve? And how did he get a visa? Does he have British parents?

Decent meeting tonight. It was close for most of the match and Lakeside looked dangerous, but Swindon put in a big finish. Darcy Ward was excellent tonight. It's great having him in the side, and crowds are looking healthy too - possibly as a result. Good point for Krcmar, beating Howarth. He looked pleased with himself too, doing a celebration lap. Great to see the riders coming out into the crowd for autographs and photos. It's always nice when that happens.

That's a joke, right?

Is my brain deceiving me, or can we use Chris Holder as a guest for Nick Morris from 1st August?

As I recall, ITV didn't show the Overseas final that year, but had a single camera there to show a couple of Kenny Carter races. I remember one of them was against Phil Crump. Why would I remember that? Why??