lucifer sam

Thanks to the "Massif" for their hospitality on the back straight tonight. Good news is that, despite all the falls, the Scunny lads seem to have escaped with a few bumps and bruises. All the best Rob

OK, I'll come over and say hello. All the best Rob

Yes, I'm on holiday this week and doing a few speedway meetings, including this one. Are you guys stood over on the back straight? All the best Rob

Josh and Wilko due back for Scunny tonight. All the best Rob

Be thankful you had just one rider wrongly excluded - in Heat 1, Scunthorpe had two Ronnie Allan was shocking as usual... surely it's time for him to retire. All the best Rob

I had a similar discussion with tmc, but regarding Wimbledon, as Rob Hollingworth rode on both the proper track (in use until 1991) and the interior track (2002 to 2005). His decision was same stadium only counts as one track. On the other hand, if one stadium is adjacent to the other, i.e. Weymouth, Glasgow Blantyre, Rye House, Buxton, etc, then that's two tracks. It would open up a minefield if different layouts of track within the same stadium were counted as different tracks. All the best Rob

New signing for Scorpions: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=6047

Weather looks perfect this year, mate. I'll look out for you tomorrow. All the best Rob

Alex Davies out for the season. Collection for him tomorrow - please give generously. All the best Rob

Oops, now corrected. All the best Rob

Weather forecast looking perfect for tomorrow. Looking forward to an enjoyable evening at Sunny Scunny. All the best Rob

What's slightly weird is the lack of Polish World Champions. Since the start of the GP series: Sweden 5 (Rickardsson 5) Denmark 4 (Nielsen 1, Pedersen 3) Australia 4 (Crump 3, Holder 1) USA 4 (Hamill 1, Hancock 3) England 3 (Loram 1, Woffinden 2) Poland 1 (Gollob 1) For some reason, the Poles have not produced individual World Champions, while dominating the World Cup. Will Woffinden/ Hancock/ Sayfutdinov continue to thwart the Poles for the next decade? All the best Rob

When's the play-off deadline for the National League? It looks like a lot of meetings to fit in before then, especially for Belle Vue, with eight at home to go. All the best Rob

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions face Premier League leaders Somerset Rebels at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday (6.30pm) in a clash which will be a mouthwatering one for a number of reasons. Somerset currently have an unbeaten record in Premier League fixtures in 2016, with 11 wins out of 11, including four victories on the road. In fact, their form across the whole season has been outstanding, with 18 wins from 19 official league, KO Cup and League Cup fixtures, with the only blot on their copybook being a 43-46 defeat at Rye House way back in April. Much of Somerset’s success so far this year has been based on the effortless way in which Antipodeans Jake Allen and Bradley Wilson-Dean have adjusted to their first season of Premier League racing. Meanwhile, another new recruit to the 2016 Somerset Rebels is another Australian, Rohan Tungate, and this highly controversial figure needs no introduction to the Scorpions’ fans. The last time Tungate visited the Eddie Wright Raceway was on July 17, 2015, when he was riding for the Ipswich Witches. In a highly unsavoury incident, Tungate – after being beaten into third place in Heat 10 by Josh Auty and Alex Davies – rode straight into Auty on the second bend of the warm-down lap, and brought the Scunthorpe No 1 crashing down. Auty, who had just returned from a two-month spell on the sidelines with a broken hand, was ruled out of action for the rest of the season after his hand was re-broken, while Tungate was subsequently handed what could be seen as a somewhat lenient 21-day-ban by the Speedway Control Bureau, after the explanation he gave to the referee was found not to match to match video evidence of the incident. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “It really does promise to be a cracker of a meeting on Sunday. “Somerset have been flying, and there’s no doubt that they will prove to be really tough opponents, but we’d love to be the team who becomes the first to defeat them in league competition this season. “I’m not worried about the respective league positions of the two teams. Glasgow came here as league leaders and we beat them, while Peterborough were riding high in the table and we beat then away from home; and we can do the same with Somerset, but only if our lads ride at the top of their game. “We are going to have to pull out all the stops against Somerset, but the recent Premier League Fours showed that the Rebels are not completely infallible. “I think it will be a brilliant meeting. It’s always a hotly-contest fixture – the two clubs were involved in a very close battle in the 2012 Premier League play-off final, which we won on aggregate by a point, and both clubs love to get one over the other. “Our main aim will be taking the three league points. But it’s impossible to ignore that it’s the first time that Rohan Tungate has been to Scunthorpe since last year’s controversy. Our fans remember well what happened that night, I don’t need to remind them, and I have no doubt that the atmosphere will be electric.” With the new Green Sheet averages kicking in, Josh Auty will move back to the No 1 spot for Scorpions, while Carl Wilkinson replace Michael Palm Toft at reserve. There are 24 heats of action in total on Sunday, with a nine-race second half including a six-heat Northern Junior League match between Halifax and Northside. Admission prices for Sunday: 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 Sunday: Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Auty, 2. Michael Palm Toft, 3. Lewis Kerr, 4. Rider replacement for Alex Davies, 5. Ryan Douglas, 6. Carl Wilkinson, 7. Josh Bailey. Somerset Rebels: 1. Josh Grajczonek, 2. Jake Allen, 3. Charles Wright, 4. Paul Starke, 5. Rohan Tungate, 6. Bradley Wilson-Dean, 7. Rob Shuttleworth (guest). Northern Junior League teams: Halifax Dukes: 1. Joe Lawlor, 2. Sheldon Davies, 3. Jordan Palin, 4. Luke Harrison. Northside Stars: 1. James Hitchen, 2. Luke McKenna, 3. Corban Pavitt, 4. Gregor Millar.

TONIGHT’S (Tuesday) clash between the Somerset Rebels and the Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions at the Oak Tree Arena has been postponed, due to a waterlogged track. A re-staging date will be announced in due course. The same two sides meet at Scunthorpe’s Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday (6.30pm start-time).

Oh dear, poor old Cyclone still hasn't got it. Dear chap, there is no such thing as doubling up between National League and the higher leagues. The clue is in the name, really. When a rider competes in both the EL & PL, the EL club has the opportunity to name a second rider to cover the slot e.g. Ben Barker at Coventry. Hence "Doubling Up". 16.1.2 makes clear that, in the case of a rider doubling up between EL/PL and the rider being owned by a NL club, then the EL/PL clubs can agree to who has priority. I can see where you've got confused here, but it doesn't refer to a rider who is riding in both the PL and NL. In fact, Edinburgh actually even clarified the case with Dan Bewley, after which Belle Vue were informed that Edinburgh took precedence in fixture clashes. There is only one rule in the rulebook that covers a EL/PL rider also riding in the NL: 19.9.3 Where a rider is additionally declared in a PL and/or EL Team, the EL and/or PL Team shall have priority, except that a rider nominated for the NLRC must appear in the NLRC. Note there is NO reference in the above to "Doubling Up", because it's not that. There is no second rider available to the EL/PL team in such cases. It's simply a rider competing in an additional team. It's allowed (as long as the rider is eligible, of course), but 19.9.3 (which is unusually succinct for the rulebook) makes clear that the EL/PL has priority, except when it comes to the NLRC. Got it now?????? All the best Rob

Glasgow's results are still inconsistent... massive win at Berwick, surprise defeat at Redcar, humping the Monarchs today, but I still reckon it's between them at Somerset this season. All the best Rob

Here we go again Just to point out again (for the nnnnth time ) that there is no such thing as doubling-up between the NL and the higher leagues. Riders can ride NL in addition (where eligible) but it's not doubling-up, it's simply riding in an additional league. NL never takes priority except when it's the NLRC. If you read the SCB statement, it doesn't refer to section 16 at any point, because this section is irrelevant when it comes to the NL. Please point out where rule 16.1.3 is quoted in the SCB Press Release. Monarchs making up the rules as they go along, as usual, but it didn't do you much good against Glasgow today. 'Mon the Tigers. All the best Rob

Lewy, what's the update on Stefan Nielsen? Is he likely to be out for the year? I hope he can come back. He was flying in his guest performance for Scunthorpe against Sheffield. All the best Rob Yeah, Kyle Newman's dad and sister come across as really nice people. All the best Rob

Still spouting the same one-eyed nonsense, I see. NL does not have priority over the PL; it's simply that Edinburgh were instructed by someone within the BSPA that the NL meeting took priority, even though it shouldn't. The SCB statement simply made reference to Edinburgh being instructed; it doesn't back it up with reference to a rule, since the rules say the opposite. There are no Doubling Up rules between the NL and the higher leagues - section 16 is therefore invalid. Rule 19.9.3 is quite clear on the matter. There's surely far more case for a facility for an injured rider, rather than a rider riding in a lesser-priority meeting. As usual, the rules have been applied in Edinburgh's favour in both instances. Nothing new there, then All the best Rob

Scorpions led 27-20 at one point, and still led with three heats to go, but final score was 49-40 to Monarchs. All the best Rob

Hi Al, yes 18.10 needs re-wording and also perhaps 19.9.3. There's another thing that the statement doesn't make clear (it also needs an amendment, because Friday to Sunday is not 72 hours!). Was the BSPA member actually correct in telling Edinburgh that the NL league meeting took priority, even if the PL fixture was re-arranged? 19.9.3 suggests otherwise. Al, it may be something that the Edinburgh promotion want to clarify for future clashes, to avoid future furore! No, I've been around long enough to realise that Edinburgh always get their own way. Still time to move on. All the very best with hugs and kisses Rob

Definitely two different stadiums a quarter of a mile (or so) apart!! All the best Rob

Actually what it says on the BSPA website is: Campbell said: “The BSPA issue National League green sheets which clearly indicate Mitchell was eligible. That’s what we all work from.” So Edinburgh were booking Davey as a NL guest. Which is an ignorance-is-bliss approach, rather than spending two minutes on the BSPA website... as I did, and found a past 4.23 PL average for Mitchell Davey during the course of 2009. And last year, Alex Davies was issued the wrong GSA, just before Scunthorpe went to Edinburgh. Did the Monarchs say "we all work from the green sheets" or come the night, did Scunthorpe have to change around their side, moving up Alex Davies from reserve to up in the team? The error was pointed out prior to the meeting (although how on earth the usually astute Monarchs management thought Mitchell Davey could be eligible is beyond me) , with Scunthorpe following procedures, so therefore the Monarchs should have reverted to using e.g. Layne Cupitt who was there for the second half. All the best Rob

But Bewley should have been at Scunthorpe: 19.9.3 Where a rider is additionally declared in a PL and/or EL Team, the EL and/or PL Team shall have priority, except that a rider nominated for the NLRC must appear in the NLRC. So NL guest only according to 18.10 e). And Davey isn't eligible for that - his 2009 Glasgow figures are proof of that. Or did the NLRC take place at Buxton on Sunday without anyone noticing? All the best Rob