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Kent Vs Birmingham - 18th July


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Final score: Kent 41 Birmingham 43... with last race not staged due to curfew.

 

It seems to me a real shame that Kent didn't get on with this one a bit quicker - it's a shame when a clash between two of the league's big guns is decided by curfew.

 

Any thoughts from those who were there?

 

All the best

Rob

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Final score: Kent 41 Birmingham 43... with last race not staged due to curfew.

 

It seems to me a real shame that Kent didn't get on with this one a bit quicker - it's a shame when a clash between two of the league's big guns is decided by curfew.

 

Any thoughts from those who were there?

 

All the best

Rob

Enough on Twitter last night were complaining of underhand time wasting tactics.

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Well where to start from last night? A meeting where the score swung to and fro and where hard racing was evident from the start.


Starting with the good and in this case very good Tom Bacon was superb, gated well, was composed out front and was the standout man on the night. Jack Smith when behaving was very fast indeed and James Shanes was simply box office plus a mention for David Mason who was much improved and always near the thick of the action.


Now that bad (deep breath) Ritchings was pants & awful attempt to try and get a rerun. Bowen getting timed out under 2mins in ht 1 was silly and costly. Ayres awful attempt to run Smith into the fence in ht 7, nothing subtle about it and was both reckless, unnecessary and costly again.


Then Smith the move on Verge was shocking and his gestures at the end of the meeting were a disgrace and i hope a fine is heading his way.



Winners on the night Brum & Drury's terrible actions in slowing the meeting down



Losers the fans who pay to watch a full meeting and were denied by blatant time wasting, a slow ref & Kent riders who lacked urgency to get to the tapes and get going also. Judging bythe way the stadium quickly emptied & the grumblings on the way out from both sides i was not alone.


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Final score: Kent 41 Birmingham 43... with last race not staged due to curfew.

 

It seems to me a real shame that Kent didn't get on with this one a bit quicker - it's a shame when a clash between two of the league's big guns is decided by curfew.

 

Any thoughts from those who were there?

 

All the best

Rob

you are clearly on the wind up mate.

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you are clearly on the wind up mate.

 

Nah, just curious as to what happened.

 

I've now read a version of events on the Kent website and I can see why you might think I was on the wind up, although ultimately it is the referee and home promotion who dictate the pace of the meeting, although the away team can certainly put in a spanner in the works!

 

Although, correct me if I'm wrong, but I make the number of two-minute exclusions as two apiece on each side.

 

All the best

Rob

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Drury should be ashamed, Smith needs a fine and the ref clearly needed me sat next to him with a cattle prod.

 

The time wasting in heat 13 was totally unacceptable, i've never been so wound up at a speedway meeting. At 39 points each that should have been it but out came our riders for heat 14 (pronto) and the cheats got the win.


 

Nah, just curious as to what happened.

 

I've now read a version of events on the Kent website and I can see why you might think I was on the wind up, although ultimately it is the referee and home promotion who dictate the pace of the meeting, although the away team can certainly put in a spanner in the works!

 

Although, correct me if I'm wrong, but I make the number of two-minute exclusions as two apiece on each side.

 

All the best

Rob

Why start a thread after the event because you are just 'curious'? Surely you would read the Kent website first?

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First time visitor to Kent yesterday and very impressed by the attendance.

Knowing it was the hottest day of the year and the likely need to water regularly meant the meeting was always going to be tight to the curfew. Taking 20 minutes to run the first 2 races, and 40 minutes to run heats 3-6 so after an hour we only had 6 heats.

Drury has been in this game a long time and looking at the score charts Brum would likely win heat 14 and lose 15 so he played the clock with time exclusions. Many team managers would have done the same to make sure they take the points home.

 

Just my view as an outsider.

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Did not go last night as I am in sunny Devon.

But last night was just another example of why I am fed up with the NL.

How many 2 minutes exclusions/just made it was there last night ?

I see so many of these that it is getting tedious and boring.

And last night not finishing the meeting when there was just 2 points in it,was a disgrace.

I know the curfew was reached,but no excuse last night for not getting through the meeting.

Can you imagine getting to 85 minutes in a football match and blowing final whistle ??

Again the public are short changed,but never mind they do not count. :nono:

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No mention of anything controversial on the BSPA web site. In fact having taken a dogs age to put anything on their web site at all it seems that they have copied & pasted straight off the Brummies web site.

 

I'm sure that a fully investigated analysis of all that went on will feature in next week's Speedway Star though, won't it?

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I was at the meeting last night - a neutral observer.

 

Darryl Ritchings failure/reluctance to clear the track after he had fallen by himself in heat 4 and Kent were on a 5-1 left a lot to be desired. Luckily, the referee did not request a rerun and awarded the race.

 

The delaying tactics employed by the Brum management and riders from heat 12 onwards was deplorable. The paying public were thereby cheated out of a last heat decider.

 

The antics/gestures of Jack Smith towards the spectators was also not acceptable behaviour.

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Whilst Brum played the game both sides were at fault for running out of time. Bowen was a wally in heat 1 and was always arriving at the tapes at the last minute then beggered about gardening, Jack Thomas the same, a tight/old chain in heat 2 and was always last to the line.

The ref did little to keep things moving until it was 2 late and although extra time should be afforded to fallen riders especially if no fault of their own (Verge & Clifton) but they were given an age.

 

Meetings need to run at a sharper pace at Kent and the home riders need to set the pace on this. On the plus side it is a compliment to the Kings that Drury didn't think his team would win over the full 15 heats.

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Probably the two best teams in the league on a glorious evening, and both at full strength until the visitor's skipper sadly had to cry off late on. It was set fair for a cracker, but it all began to go wrong for the Kings when captain Bowen had to go off 15m in the first and then reserve Thomas shed a chain at the tapes before heat 2 and had to do likewise. 10-2 down after 2 heats, and the first two of what turned out to be crucial delays.

When surprise packet Tom Bacon sped from the tapes and even James Shanes couldn't catch him, things looked ominous for the home side - incredibly 10 down at home after 3 heats! Shanes made amends with a stunning third to first on the last lap in heat 5, but when Smith demolished the fence on bend 2 trying to get around a determined Luke Bowen, the lengthy repairs saw the curfew already fast approaching, and only 6 heats gone!

All told I make it 10 out of the first 13 heats had some sort of delay - be it 2 minute exclusions, unsatisfactory starts or falls. Unfortunately, some of the later delays were clearly planned!

The Birmingham management's blatant time wasting tactics near the end made a mockery of the welcome notes in the evening's programme - "A rivalry built on mutual respect....and conducted.....with great sportsmanship."

Once again the speedway fan was the loser, denied a last heat decider that might well have seen Birmingham collect a point at least as the very impressive Tom Bacon might well have split whatever very strong Kent pair he faced. A draw may well have been a fair result, and both sides should have taken their place on a well deserved victory parade.

Instead, the meeting ended with the majority of the crowd frustrated, angry and disappointed.

What should have been a great climax, and left many looking forward to their next fix of speedway, ended in a damp squib - a nothing.

Winning isn't everything Birmingham.

It wasn't Kent that just lost...Speedway lost yet again.

 

Two final thoughts.

Why, given that the curfew exists, do Kent not start the racing promptly at 6.30? The parade of riders is excellent and a commendable piece of presentation, but could this not be advertised to start at 6.15pm?

Secondly, why were even the home riders taking so long to get up to tapes in the latter races? There was no urgency - did the team manager not relay the likely importance of getting to heat 15 if they were going to win to his riders? Very odd.

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Drury should be ashamed, Smith needs a fine and the ref clearly needed me sat next to him with a cattle prod.

 

The time wasting in heat 13 was totally unacceptable, i've never been so wound up at a speedway meeting. At 39 points each that should have been it but out came our riders for heat 14 (pronto) and the cheats got the win.

Why start a thread after the event because you are just 'curious'? Surely you would read the Kent website first?

I guess you are the motormouth i was hearing all evening---easily wound up i'd say---i'd start looking a bit closer to home on running things more quickly at home meetings the GD wouldn't have had the opportunity as you allege to timewaste.

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neutral fan in attendance.

* Great racing

* Great crowd

* Referee and home riders know there's a curfew. the crowd could see from heat 10 what was likely to happen..yet we had an inexplicable tractor break , home riders laying flat out on track for ages before leaping to their feet, a referee who showed no urgency early in in the meeting, and totally predictably ran out of time. Extra laps with flag for heat winners hardly helped either..

It's not Birmingham's fault there is a 2 hr curfew but..

* Drury should hang his head in shame - I often go to Perry Barr (how would he feel if most of his crowd left shaking their heads at the way they were robbed of a finale to this meeting)

Yet another example of the fans who pay good money getiting short changed.

That's another promoter who should be done on a disrepute charge as behaviour not in the interests of the sport. I know I'm wasting my breath (not to mention my money).

Once again the paying public were the last thought on any of the above's mind. I sat with Brummies fans and they were disgusted too.

Edited by Mike.Butler
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