cyclone

Bringing in Rosen has proved a master stroke by Newcastle and barring further injuries, I remain convinced they will wipe the floor with all the other play-off contenders over two legs. Re Chris Gay, he has previous for incorrectly penalising "certain" riders for alleged rolling starts. He also has a tendency to hold the tapes far too long, which appears to be an attempt to induce tape touching/breaking.

Comparing to the quality of signings, not whether Sheffield should have been specifically signing Rosen, as you ineptly implied. If you had bothered to check Maassen's racing record this season, perhaps you would have noticed it is mediocre and would have questioned why Sheffield decided to sign a rider who would struggle to score points at NL level.

Not you sure there still is an automatic 7 day ban ? I recall being told that if a rider satsifies the on-site medics or has been formally signed off earlier than the seven days, he can then ride. Suppose it might be depend on the severity of the concussion, being in the range from mild to long term that can last several weeks. I agree it is best to err on the cautious side on health matters, I was just puzzled that he had a decent performance on Wednesday and is now deemed unfit.

Maassen's results in Germany this season have been mediocre, whereas Anton Rosen has been posting decent scores in the top tier in Sweden. Look's like one Promotion did their homework and the other has not.

When did Anders Thomsen, who scored paid 13 for Munkebo in Denmark on Wednesday, get injured

Scott Wilson at Edinburgh persists in announcing the result of tight finishes, prior to the referee's official verdict. That's plain bad manners and if the ref were to fine him for such actions, it might stop him doing so.

That's two magnificent entertaining spectacles against Somerset at the Dale within the last fortnight. Once again it threw up an unentirely expected score from a Monarchs NL guest, namely Liam Carr, whom the Bandits obligingly assisted us with Throughout the first 13 heats,it looked like Somerset were going to go through on aggregate, until a sublime piece of track craft by Jozsef Tabaka in ht 14 to engineer a home 5 -1, followed by a pressure win in ht 15 by Cookie, resulted in a mouthwatering replay between two committed sides. Thankfully it appears there was no serious damage to messrs Fricke & Newman after their high speed crash through the safety fence. Was good to see a large contingent of Somerset fans and their Promotion were present and this made for a friendly competitive atmosphere.

Carr is declared as a Berwick NL double up at reserve, together with Starke. Was under impression that guests for number 7 in averages, excluded any rider from another PL team, including NL double ups, or do different rules apply for the KO Cup

Hope you're right and I'm miserably wrong

We have to win by more than the 8 points margin in the league match, but Bates who scored 7, will be replaced ano NL guest who is unlikely to score more than a couple of points at best, and even if Vissing rides, how fit will he be ? Somerset reserves scored 3 between them, last time, expect Wright to score more than that himself. So being realistic, Somerset should be expected to score more than 42 tomorrow and therefore win on aggregate.

Monarchs will probably lose this tie as the result of messrs Vissing & Bates being the innocent injury victims of last Friday's match. As a result, Somerset are in the right place at the right time, which happens in the swings and roundabouts in Speedway. Hopefully we will still witness racing as good as the league match against the Rebels a fortnight ago.

Maassen has hardly been hitting the highspots in Germany, where he is more on a par with the likes of Helfer, than Wolbert or Smolinski. Is it a brave move or a panic reaction ?

Quite an achievement for the depleted, injury hit, Monarchs to restrict the rampaging Rebels to an 8 pt lead. Given that Somerset only lost by 8 pts at the Dale to a full strength Monarchs a fortnight ago, the Rebels will probably still be favourites to progress as it will be a tall order for r/r for Vissing and a NL guest for Bates, to match the 12 point scored in that league match.

A distinctive, spectacular one-off whom I always looked forward to seeing, since he first arrived on the scene as a precocious sixteen year old. He is also one of the most sporting riders, riding fair, giving opponents room to manoeuvre, and readily shaking hands with adversaries at the finish, win or lose. I hope he is involved in developing others, as he is an excellent role model for youngsters.

Any reason why Josh Grajczonek would not also be considered, given his current form at Saracen Park ?

Was reported that Bates was released from Rockets booking earlier in the week as Garrity, whom he would have replaced, was expected to ride at the Dale. Can Ben Morley now replace JG ?

An enthralling incident packed contest, with both teams playing their part. Somerset were worthy opponents, though imo, Newcastle are still the best team to have visited the Dale this Season, having turned us over twice. However doing the double over the Rebels (yes, remember, we also won at the OTA with the same 7 riders ) and taking 6 match points to nil, deserves recognition Quite rightly Josh Bates will be getting most of the kudos, but messrs Vissing & Tabaka in hts 12 & 14, did their bit in assisting him to victory. By his normal standards, Cookie was below par, after being caught up in first bend congestion, but he did produce the best overtakes of the meeting in passing Morris in ht6 and then Doyle in ht 15. Re ht 15, his record in the final heat is phenomenal, both home and away, and must be on the way to being the best ever in the PL. Notice some Somerset posters on here are berating the performance of Davies, Nielsen, and Lambert - perhaps they should be more realistic and acknowledge that on the night, their Monarchs counterparts, when on song, are the better riders on their home track.

Tigers last two home matches over the previous fortnight were wins of 49 - 41 against PL title favourites, Newcastle 49 - 41 and Glasgow 53 - 37, so how come all the foreboding about tomorrow Monarchs will be doing well to grab a single match point, given that a stronger Diamonds side failed to do so and also Max Fricke will be making his first appearance at Owlerton.

Can only reflect the view of the fellow Monarchs fans I talk to at the track, and none have predicted we will be 2013 PL Champs. OK you will get the odd dafty on this forum making such an assertion, but they are hardly representative of those who actually attend home and away matches. BTW I agree that Newcastle & Somerset are potential Champs, and would add Ipswich to the mix as they have come into a rich vein of form recently. If Claus and/or Theo are unavailable tomorrow, we should go for Bellego as guest, who is a firm favourite with the Tigeratti

I would expect the two guests (Tully & Branford) to score more than the than those they are replacing (Stead & Koppe), and r/r for Haines should also provide a better return. Also Wells performed well at the Scottish Open last Friday. Recently, Monarchs have not been that impressive at home, so I would not be surprised if this turns out to be a close contest at sunny Armadale.

He is never happy unless he is stirring it and trying to cause discord between Scottish supporters. When he was allegedly in Turkey, conveniently missing the home & away matches against Edinburgh, it was noticeable that there was constructive and amicable discussions between Tigers & Monarchs fans on this Forum

When I had predicted a comfortable win for the Diamonds before the match and that Lindgren was no mug round Armadale, some Newcastle posters were highly sceptical. Although I am a Monarchs fan, it was obvious from the KO Cup encounter that the Diamonds were superior from the gate and round the first two bends, and given the current state of the track surface, a more emphatic home defeat was on the cards as r/r for Henry, plus Schramm for Steve Worrall, would yield even more points for the visitors. The best team on the night won, and given we had a 6 point t/r, and Robson & Tully failed to finish when on 5 -1s, the final scoreline flattered the Monarchs. I still believe Newcastle have the best 1 - 7 in the PL and are now actually stronger using r/r for the unfortunately absent Christian Henry. Barring unforeseen catastrophes, Diamonds should win the PL Championship Play-Offs for this Season. As a general observation, more of the teams in the mix for the six Play-Off places seem to be performing better on their travels than at home, this Season.

Valid observations. Viewing the broadcast meetings from Denmark, Sweden & Poland regularly, I find the matches on our smaller tracks are more entertaining to watch, with more emphasis on passing, than gating and high speed that occurs on the Continent. One of the attractions of UK Speedway is the wide variations in track sizes and shapes, whereas in the rest of Europe there does appear to be more standardisation inasmuch that they are generally longer and wider.

On 14th June @ the Dale: 2,2,3 exc, including a win over CC - not a bad effort eh ?

You are obviously unaware he is doing well in the Elite also. To enlighten you, he is second in the Belle Vue averages, and also beat Holder at Poole, before he was injured