Brummie Kev

A throroughly enjoyable match for the neutal tonight, a match where Eastbourne really should be kicking themselves at getting nothing. at the interval they were favorites for me. They let it slip in the latter heats but all the credit to the Heathens, the likes of Clegg and Greaves who had indifferent meetings upto that point came to the party in heats 13 and 15. Arron Mogridge was the standout Heathen and probably deserved heat 15 but understandable they went for Clegg and Greaves.Williamson rode well and is another that could have been considered for the last heat. It wasnt as easy for the Heathens reserve this week, Perks had an off night with a fall and a couple of EFs which could have cost Cradley. Neale stepped up in heat 14 with a good ride at a crucial time. For the Eagles, was looking forward to watching Wilson-Dean and he didnt disapoint. It was like watching Ben Barker again as the lad likes to keep it wound on in the bends and is very entertaining to watch. I'm just glad we have the eagles in the cup and Wilson Dean back at Perry Barr on the 20th, him v Adam Ellis should be interesting. Eastbourne booked a good guest in Ritchings, after his injuries it good to see him going well. Solid performance from David Mason too at number 1. Did find it a bit strange that they went for George Wood in Heat 14 over Kelsey Dugard who had 2,2,1 from three rides and had performed better. Guess Dugard had a problem in the pits.

So impressed with Bradley Wilson Dean at Perry Barr tonight, great talent

Awful decision from Jim Lawrence.😤

If its a combined Birmingham/Cradley team, how come theres four Heathens compared to 2 Brummies. Thought I heard on Wednesday Tom Perry was riding in this

I will be, Bradley Wilson Dean and Marc Owen are in my NL fantasy team on facebook!

Podcasts from last night's match on the main website, reaction from Graham Drury and Zach Wajtknecht. Drury says Luke Priest has a broken wrist, best wishes to him on making a speedy recovery http://www.birminghambrummies.co/news.php?extend.2082

Well done Brummies, a close meeting but glad we pulled off the win. Impressed with Zach and Alex at reserve and Greenwood proved to be a great choice of guest. Perry always giving it plenty of effort riding the Ben Barker line. A shame the Raiders missed out, Branford is class act in this league. Would be interesting to have seen him and Ellis in a race. Best wishes to Luke Priest, withdrew with a hand injury after a terrible crash in heat 12. Kirby fell going into bend 3 and Priest had nowhere to go and rode into him, sending him into the fence. So a bit unlucky that Rye House got nothing from this when at one point they could have won it.

RIP to the voice of cricket.

A point deserved for the Coventry Storm, impressed with the heat leader trio of Crang,Greenwood and Ritchings. The rest struggled a bit but towards the end but we saw important rides in heat 14 from Shuttleworth and Dwyer in keeping it to a 3-3 and a last heat decider. For Cradley, Ellis Perks superb yet again and not only will he go into the main body but imo will go to number 1 sometime this season. Williamson proving a liking for the Perry Barr track and unlucky not to get heat 15. Clegg whilst not absolutley brilliant more than did his job. The track for me was a bit too dusty which certaintly had an effect on the racing, dont know why they didnt water it during the track grades like they did in the Cradley/Brummies match, today was much hotter too.The line to ride is what I like to call "the Ben Barker" line, which is right out wide near the airfence thats where most of the passing is done.

Well I am going tonight and looking forward to seeing some decent speedway. Hope the Storm make a good fist of it so its not one sided. Also hope the Heathens reserves score plenty of points as they are in my fantasy Facebook NL team. Had a good week with the performances of Bradley Wilson Dean for Eastbourne so hopefully that continues😁 I believe no porky tonight (wasn't at wolves last night) and its Nigel Pearson on the mic.

It's off, provisional restaging is Wednesday 29th April

Dont think we have Sam Chapman for this as Plymouth are riding, also I'm presuming the 8pm start is to allow Adam Ellis as much time as possible to get here. Lakeside have a home match that starts at 1pm.

Where's Ellis riding?

I make no apologises for mentioning Perks. You have a go at me Screamer for bigging up Perks too early but why are you being dismissive of him by saying once birds and beers get in the way he will fade away, how do you even know that?. Lets have a bit of faith in our younger riders, maybe we are a bit OTT but if we go the opposite way then surely that will have a detrimental effect aswell.

Awful News, I wish Kenneth all the best in fighting this terrible condition . The whole speedway family is behind you Kenneth.

It wont be long before you can throw Ellis Perks into the mix of our next British hope

You really have to take your hat off to both sets of riders tonight, you would think the National League title was on this meeting after the commitment both sides gave. The trophy lets be honest was more or less won after first leg and its an early season challenge match so fair play to them for the entertainment they provided us. Ellis different quality to last week, as expected winning heats with ease. Perry as ever with him he entertains and showed he could easily be a good number 1 for most NL teams. Chapman's ride in Heat 12 is what won us the match imo, absolutley brilliant to hold off Williamson and Perks on the line as he did. Impressed with Chapman, think 5.45 is a steal for the talent he has. Kirby very good, on the pace in all his rides and gave 110% especially going to the first bends, hope hes okay after his tumble. As for the new lads, Zach made a positive impression tonight. Even though he made that great gate in Heat 2 and won the heat, I notice he doesnt always get the gate but he always looks on the pace to challenge. He defo showed signs he can make an impact as the weeks go by especially from reserve. I'm sure Alex Wilson will too, 2 paid 3 and I belive theres alot more to come from him. The one thing i will say about Harvie is gating isnt an issue but wasnt on the pace at all. Lets remember he is new to speedway and its his second meeting. Many of the Heathens didnt have as good nights, hope Harris is okay with his ankle injury. I would like to say what a talent Ellis Perks is, just turned 18 and I dont think it will be long before he is Heathens number 1. Will be interesting to see how he fares in the PL with Scunny this year. Its good to see a young british rider coming through with the talent he has, future looking good.

Massive just like last week. What a win, what a performance and what superb racing towards the end. If this is what NL is about then I am so looking forward to this season.

The more I look at that riding order for the Brummies, the more I think its wrong. Is there a rule in the National League whereby your second stings have to ride at 2 and 4 and your heat leaders at 1,3 and 5? If so the next bit wont be relevent but if there isnt this is the order I would have gone with: 1. Ellis 2. Banks 3. Kirby 4. Chapman 5. Perry 6. Wilson 7. Wajtknecht Whatever the rules, I think its better to have Banks at 2 esp as hes new and riding with a big hitter like Ellis in 3 races, no pressure on him. Perry Barr is not a track where theres big home advantage so meetings generally go to the wire unless your team is super strong like Cradley is this year. So we have a strong top 2 in heats 13 and 15 but two 3pters in Heat 14. Would be better to have Chapman in !4 I reckon. Obviously as I say it all depends if the rules allow it.

I think its ludicrous that on the eve of our first meeting a club decides its acceptable to approach our number 1 when if the rules are followed could mean he is then ineligiable for the National League. It shows a complete lack of respect for another speedway club and I know people will mention Ben Wilson last year (dont know the ins and out) but obviously it seems a NL rider under contract means nothing to a PL club. It should not be allowed, unless theres agreement with ALL Parties and a like for like replacement be found. The PL clubs had their chance to sign him and they shouldnt be raining on our parade now. So well done to Adam for turning it down and I really hope he stays at the Brummies all season.He can a top rider for us and give great help to our younger inexperienced riders.

Does Jamrog have an ACU Licence as I believe poles only allowed in Premier League with one.

Made the trip over to this and I agree poor turnout. Perhaps many felt the line up wasn't good enough or because of the cold weather I'm not sure. Can't believe there will be a crowd like that next week against Coventry. Started slow but some enjoyable racing in the second half. Congrats to Bomber Harris on a very well deserved win, a massive shame that Sam Masters blew an engine so he couldn't come out for the rostrum race. He was absolutely outstanding and I would have had a tenner on him in that race had he come out. Think it may take a while for the new polish rider for wolves to adapt, did better early on. As for Coventry's pole, he looks a complete dud, only beat bates which says it all. So glad I went even if I was freezing to death towards the end

I dont expect a Brummies win or even the score to be close but I'm hoping to see signs of progression from some of our younger riders. Last week was tough against a quality Cradley side but we did see flashes from all 3. Zach was challenging the Cradley riders at times, Harvie showed hes a pretty good gater which always helps and that second place ride from Alex was impressive. So an improvement on that no matter how small would be welcolme. Adam struggled last week not only for the Brummies but in other meetings but we all know hes a top rider at this level and hopefully we see a return to form this week. This meeting is all about getting ready for our first league match, we have Wednesday and then a challenge at Stoke on Sunday to prepare. 55-37 Cradley

Phil Morris in charge of Brummies for this Wednesday's return leg.😁

Great to see Speedway back tonight and also really encoraging to see the place packed to the rafters. I can only think of the Ben Fund of a time when more people were in the stadium, must have been a few thousand. Just a real shame there wasnt a close contest and the tie is moe or less decided. Im not disapointed with the Brummies, at the end of the day its the first meeting of the season. We have three riders that not only have never rode at Perry Barr in a meeting before but are completley new to the sport. Its gonna take them time to adapt to the track and this level of racing. Every rider can have an off night and thats what Adam Ellis had tonight, how many times this season will we see him scoring 3 points in a Nl meeting. Hes a proven class act at this level. The best rider on show for us was obviously Tom Perry, full of effort and excitement which is what you always see with Tom. Chapman did okay, think he will have a good year and he mixed it at times. A decent showing from Kirby, 4 paid 6 in main body from a 3pter is job done. So thats 3 positives to take from tonight. The Heathens were outstanding and you would think after this thiey will take some stopping in the National League this year. Its just a great side, Clegg and Greaves are a strong top 2, Williamson was brilliant tonight and they have the sensation that is Ellis Perks at reserve. Clegg was a mile the best rider on show tonight, but the Heathens were solid throughout.