lucifer sam

HT, I was there on Friday as a neutral Oxford fan (quickly hides the Scunny jacket and programme board) I still think the ref's decisions on Friday were six one way and half a dozen the other. I don't think it really had a major bearing on the result - both teams had things go against them at one point or another. Scunny deserved the win, while Somerset deserved the point. All the best Rob

Arron Mogridge replaces flu victim Sam Chapman for Scunthorpe. All the best Rob

Decisions weren't all the one way, though. How about Nick Morris getting away with Josh Auty's fall in Heat 9. Ref's decisions balanced themselves out and best team on the night won. All the best Rob

No it wasn't. The cheering I heard was directly after Nicolai fell off. I overheard one guy say: "Serves him right." And then there was booing when Nicolai got to his feet. I think the Ippo fans - well a section of them in any case - are the worst in British Speedway. All the best Rob

R/R for Klindt, Hugh Skidmore for Douglas and Ashley Birks is back! All the best Rob

I doubt it - surely Ippo and Scunny fans will watch this rather than a watered-down ELRC. All the best Rob

BIGGEST MEETING AT EDDIE WRIGHT RACEWAY SINCE 2012 FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions start their Premier League play-off campaign this week, with two meetings of huge significance, away at Ipswich on Thursday night and then at home to Somerset Rebels at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday evening (7.30pm). The latter is a mouth-watering clash, pitting the 2012 Premier League champions (Scunthorpe) against the 2013 champions (Somerset). The Scorpions will head into battle without both skipper Ashley Birks and flying young Australian Ryan Douglas, both sidelined with scaphoid (wrist) injuries. Scunthorpe will use the rider replacement facility for Douglas in both meetings. With the 21-year-old Australian currently second in the Scorpions’ official Green Sheet averages, the foursome of Nicolai Klindt, David Howe, Josh Auty and Thomas Jorgensen can all take one of Ryan’s rides. Birks, currently at reserve, is replaced by guests Mark Lemon at Ipswich and Ben Wilson at Scunthorpe. The Scorpions also make an additional change on Friday evening, with Benji Compton - a former Scunthorpe Scorpion and Saint - coming in for the unavailable Tom Perry, who is riding for Cradley Heath at Coventry in National League KO Cup action on that evening. Compton guested in the last meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway, the sensational 62-34 demolition of Berwick, and scored paid five. FRIDAY’S clash with the Somerset Rebels is the biggest meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway since Monday, October 29, 2012. Ironically, it was also the Rebels in opposition on that night, as the Scorpions won an epic play-off final by 92-91 on aggregate. Scunthorpe missed out on a play-off spot in 2013, but are back in the mix this year, and determined to make the most of their chance. Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We’ve ended up in the play-off group we wanted to be in; the other group looks a shoe-in for Edinburgh, but we’re in an even group where any one of the three teams can qualify and that suits us. “Ideally, of course, we’d want a fully fit team of our own riders taking to the track. The recent injuries to Ash & Ryan have been a huge blow, to be honest. “But we’ve been here before. In 2012, Josh Auty and Nick Morris were injured at a critical time in our play-off campaign. We came through it then and still ended up as champions, and we’d love to do that again. “In terms of the psychology, I think any pressure is off us, because everyone is now thinking of us as the underdogs in this group. But we’re still going to go out there, with the intention of getting through. We can win this group.” Godfrey believes race points could prove to be important in a group which could end up with all home wins. All of the regular league matches between the Scorpions, Somerset and Ipswich ended up as victories to the homesters. “We want to beat Somerset by as many points as possible on Friday”, he said. “That’s certainly no easy task, but that’s what we need to do. Our whole team is going to be up for it, with Ben Wilson and Benji Compton - both former Scunthorpe riders - needing no introduction to our fans. “It’s going to be a huge night. Play-off speedway is always full of drama, tension and excitement, and we’re proud to have what is widely acknowledged as one of the best racetracks in the country. “On Friday night, the Eddie Wright Raceway will be the place to be. It’s a night not to be missed”, concluded Godfrey. Full play-off schedule for Group B: Thursday, September 25 – Ipswich v Scunthorpe at Foxhall Heath Friday, September 26 – Scunthorpe v Somerset (7.30pm) at the Eddie Wright Raceway Wednesday, October 1 – Somerset v Scunthorpe at the Oak Tree Arena Thursday, October 2 – Ipswich v Somerset at Foxhall Heath Friday, October 3 – Scunthorpe v Ipswich (7.30pm) at the Eddie Wright Raceway Friday, October 10 – Somerset v Ipswich at the Oak Tree Arena HOW THE PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFFS WORK: The two semi-final groups are determined on a mini-league basis (i.e. two home and two away fixtures for each club), with match points being accumulated as in regular fixtures. In the case of a tie on match points, race points difference is the deciding factor. The winners of the two groups then meet home and away in the Grand Final, with the aggregate winners becoming the 2014 Premier League Champions. Admission prices for Friday: Adult: £15.00 Student/OAP: £13.00 Child (10 – 17): £5.00 Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £35 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17) Match Programme: £1.00 Expected teams for Friday (English unless stated): FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Nicolai Klindt (Denmark), 2. David Howe, 3. Rider replacement for Ryan Douglas (Australia), 4. Josh Auty, 5. Thomas Jørgensen (Denmark), 6. Benji Compton (guest), 7. Ben Wilson (guest). Somerset Rebels: 1. Oliver Allen, 2. R/R for Brady Kurtz (Australia), 3. Charles Wright, 4. Pontus Aspgren (Sweden), 5. Nick Morris (Australia), 6. Todd Kurtz (Australia), 7. Paul Starke. Somerset Rebels at EWR Ave Ave Best Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Performance Oliver Allen DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR Pontus Aspgren PL 2 10 16 2 6.40 7.20 11 + 2 from 6 rides (2014) Todd Kurtz PL 7 31 33 6 4.26 5.03 12 from 7 rides (2013) Nick Morris PL 19 95 183 14 7.71 8.29 15 from 6 rides (2012) Paul Starke PL 2 7 4 2 2.29 3.43 4 + 2 from 4 rides (2014) Charles Wright PL 6 24 21 3 3.50 4.00 6 from 4 rides (2014) Other Notes Oliver Allen 2013 Premier League Riders Champion. Has represented GB in Speedway World Cup Tournaments. Has won League Championship titles at National, Premier and Elite League levels. Member of Swindon's PL KO Cup and Young Shield Winning Teams in 2000. Member of King's Lynn's PL KO Cup and Young Shield Winning Teams in 2005. Member of Coventry's EL KO Cup and Elite Shield Winning Teams in 2006. Pontus Aspgren Made his British League debut with Wolverhampton in the 2012 Elite League. Rode at Premier League level with Rye House in 2013. Has represented Sweden at Under-19 and Under-21 level. Todd Kurtz Member of Newport's Premier League KO Cup Winning Team in 2011. Australian and New South Wales Under-16 Champion in 2007/08. Nick Morris Former Scunthorpe Scorpion and a member of the 2012 Premier League Championship Winning Team. Twice Queensland Under-16 Champion in 2008/09 and 2009/10. New South Wales Under-16 Champion in 2009/10. Member of Buxton's National League Championship Winning Team in 2010. Member of Glasgow's Premier League Championship Winning Team in 2011. Member of Swindon's Elite League Championship Winning Team in 2012. Member of Somerset's Premier League Championship and KO Cup Winning Teams in 2013. Named as a 'doubling-up' rider with Swindon for the 2014 Elite League season. Paul Starke Member of Plymouth's Conference Trophy and KO Cup Winning Teams in 2008. Member of Plymouth's National Trophy Winning Team in 2009. Member of Newcastle's PL KO Cup Winning Team in 2012. Member of Dudley's NL Championship, KO Cup and Fours Winning Teams in 2013. Captain of Cradley in the 2014 National League season. Charles Wright Member of Workington's PL Fours and Young Shield Winning Teams in 2008. Member of Somerset's Premier League Championship and KO Cup Winning Teams in 2013. Somerset Rebels' Results at EWR 05 May 2008 PL L Scunthorpe 51 Somerset 39 13 April 2009 PT L Scunthorpe 53 Somerset 40 05 June 2009 PL L Scunthorpe 47 Somerset 43 03 May 2010 PL L Scunthorpe 56 Somerset 40 02 October 2010 YS L Scunthorpe 70 Somerset 20 25 April 2011 PL L Scunthorpe 49 Somerset 41 04 September 2011 PL Ph 2 L Scunthorpe 49 Somerset 41 27 August 2012 PL L Scunthorpe 50 Somerset 40 29 October 2012 PL POF L Scunthorpe 48 Somerset 42 27 May 2013 PL W Scunthorpe 37 Somerset 56 13 April 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 46 Somerset 44 * Scunthorpe are holding their annual track collection for the Speedway Riders’ Benevolent Fund on Friday. Please give generously to this most worthy cause.

In yer dreams. All the best Rob

Tommy The Gun scored paid 14 at Ippo in April, at a time he was struggling everywhere else. Add in a former track record holder in Nicolai Klindt, plus another track specialist in David Howe, and maybe Ippo should be worried. I reckon around 41-49 to Scunthorpe, maybe the only away win in the whole group. All the best Rob

Well that's unfortunate, since Scunny are there this week. All the best Rob

Because it was mind-numbingly dull perhaps? All the best Rob

The only Somerset high I can detect here, is whatever Barney Rebel has been taking. All the best Rob

I'll bring the ketchup for you. All the best Rob

Of course it depends on who finishes in the top 8, but I'd go for: 1. NKI 2. Zmarzlik (unless Hampel has two very good Grand Prix) 3. Kildemand or MJJ - still undecided on which 4. Emil... for goodness sake, someone have a good chat with him, he's too good not to be in the series. All the best Rob

Blimey, I see what you mean, Glasgow voted 51.5% YES and 48.5% NO. The Tigers will be in a league of one. Shame, it couldn’t have been the other way around; I like the Glasgow Tigers, it’s the other lot who are a pain!! All the best Rob

Well that's all sorted then. Glasgow and Edinburgh don't need to ride each other every week after all. They can just continue with the current arrangement of riding against each other in the Premier League, the Premier League again, the League Cup, the Scottish Cup, the highly-prestigious and the award-winning design of the Spring Trophy, the Knockout Cup Semi-Final and anything else I've missed All the best Rob Hey, we're 99% bonkers and proud of it All the best Rob

But surely the whole point is that he DID miss meetings for the Lions, so therefore he IS that kind of rider. All the best Rob

You do realise that as a Tory voter in the Scotland/North East alliance, you're likely to be either cast into the wilderness or stoned? All the best Rob

To be fair, he did say speedway riders. All the best Rob

Guys, the boring political thread is in General Discussions... All the best Rob Not necessarily. Glasgow have won the Premier League more recently than Edinburgh All the best Rob

Looks like Workington may shortly be joining the Scottish Speedway League if this goes ahead: http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2014/09/15/ill-informed-cumbrians-readying-for-scottish-invasion/ All the best Rob

Quite so. It stops anyone else signing the likes of Penfold All the best Rob

Also when it comes to the play-offs, the top team selects their opponents for the group stages of the play-offs, from the one team remaining. So: Regular league fixtures: Each of the teams meet each other eight times home and away. Wolbert to miss final regular league meeting due to a dodgy burger. In addition, each team also have an extra two league matches against another team of their choosing from the one other team. The top two progress to the play-off groups, with the top team selecting for opponents for the group stages of the play-offs. The top two from the group progress to the final. Edinburgh beat Glasgow 25 times (Blobby turns into Count Von Count again), but the second leg of the final is not staged to Ashfield due to a missing band aid plaster, and therefore the trophy is shared between the two teams. All the best Rob

Quite so. It's never as low as 50%. More like 80%. All the best Rob

Who will win this battle between 2012 champs and 2013 champs? Always a cracking meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway between these two teams. All the best Rob