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Birmingham V Eastbourne Koc Final First Leg 19th October


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This seems to be being discussed on the Eastbourne thread. However I am not going to allow them to hijack this thread like they may hijack the league.

 

For me the result of this match comes down to someone being able to beat one of the sparrows heat leaders at least once. I would never write the Brummies team off after the season they have had but this is gonna be a difficult one and could be decided by falls/tape exclusions/ref decisions.

 

There is history for those with a long enough tooth. And that history shows Birmingham coming back from a 16 point first leg deficit at the Eagles place. Hope springs eternal.

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If the Eagles can hold the loss to 6 points tonight it might be a nail biting last couple of heats in the second leg but I cannot see it happening.

 

With respect to Conner Coles as a guest it will be difficult to show the sort of team passion that Georgie Wood shows in these circumstances.

 

I doubt we will get to 40 points and a 12 point lead will make it a dead rubber.

 

The Brummies Management did a fantastic job building a team with JPB and Jack Smith at reserve this season and have had a deserved return.

It is a real shame that the club image has been tarnished by a few so called supporters on this forum who repeatedly put their barbs in. I hope there are no incidents or controversial decisions tonight to set the hare running again. But I guess it will happen anyway.

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lets be honest...A side as strong as the Brummies should win both trophies this month. If Eastbourne win either it will be quite a surprise. To be frank, along with Cradley both clubs are like fish out of water in the NL. their continued participation will stagnate the league as they will carve up the trophies year after year...not sure that is desirable or sustainable.

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Would feel comfortable with 10+, 6-10 we'll then be depending on the quality of guest in the second leg, less than that and Eastbourne are favourites. All our riders except Jack Smith, who's improved since then, did pretty well in the fixture at Arlington earlier in the season so we should be able to cover R/R reasonably well down there.

 

Eastbourne ran us really close at home earlier this season missing Ellis and scoring nothing from reserve, so we should be guaranteed a close meeting. Mitchell Davey has ridden well for us when needed this season so I'm hopeful we can get that double digit lead, but I'll go 49-41 Brummies.

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As an outsider with not real bias to either team i would like to see Brum take the play offs & Eastie the KOC.

Brum have been the best team all year although hit by injuries late on whilst Eastbourne were rocked by injuries early on and got off to a slow start but have really hit form now.

Fingers crossed for 4 close meetings without any dubious decisions (although i cant see that happening)

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I'll say what I said on the other thread - 46-44 to Birmingham tonight...

Eastbourne will do to Birmingham what Newcastle did to Birmingham in 2010. In that season, the Brummies stomped over the rest of the league, but in three two-legged match ups (Premier Trophy Final, PL KOC Final, and Play-Off's semi-final) the Diamonds stuffed the Brummies every time. The price you pay for having one team with a fair track and another with a huge home track advantage.

In fact the parallels go further. Newcastle had two unstoppable heat leaders - Kenni Larsen and Rene Bach. Just as Eastbourne have Adam Ellis and Ellis Perks who are both head and shoulders above anything Birmingham have to offer.

Can't see the Ellis's (Adam or Perks) dropping points so at least 6 races will be at least 3-3 if no other Eagle turns up, and two 5-1's to the Eagles in heats 13 & 15 before we start. Given that the Eagles will get at least 1 point in heat 2, then that's 29 points at Perry Barr in the bag before the other 5 riders in the team have done a thing. Now if each of those 5 riders only scores 3 points each, their 15 points plus the 29 from the combined might of the Ellis's and a reserve in heat 2, and you go to Arlington damned nearly level pegging. At Arlington, the Eagles start with a 10-point home track advantage, so it's going to be a long old slog for the young kids in the Brummies colours.

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Not having Georgie has put the KO cup in the Brummies favour imo.

 

If our reserves can score a few tonight it may sway back but I am not so sure.

 

The fair and right result for me would be a share of the spoils with Birmingham winning the play offs and Eastie the KO cup and their own tracks but hey, I will take em both!!

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They did better than expected but Brum reserves 27 Eagles 2 says it all. If we can't do better than that then we won't win a match let alone an aggregate. However if we keep running them close like that they will have done us proud.

Luke was disappointing given recent improvement and ex home track experience with Cradley last year but Tom was always going to struggle on a track he probably has never even seen before and against 2 such reserves. I think Charley Powell will get the nod on Sunday instead of Luke and Tom on the track he grew up on might just add 3 or 4 points.

 

Whatever happens we are in for a couple of really exciting meetings and the whole team have given it their all this year which is all we can ask.

 

Lets just hope the weather stays fine and any of Speedways 'gremlins' don't spoil the ending.

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As speedway should be , clean hard racing with a team with top end power against a team with by far the best reserves in the league who will be heat leaders next year. Still far from decided but one feels the top end and middle order with Wood back in will give Eastbourne the nod overall but no way a forgone conclusion!

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Whilst im sure Birmingham will be happy with the lead i expected a bit more from Bacon,Ritchings & Davey (although didn't expect both reserves to be so powerful). 5 heat wins at home would be a slight cause for concern but the result was still achieved.

R/R ultimately decided how this leg went with 8-1 in favour of the big B's.

 

As many have said it does make this a nicely poised tie as i can see Eastbourne strong at home but some Birmingham riders will have better nights also.

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Watched the meeting alongside some really nice supporters from Eastbourne whose sportsmanship and good humour helped make a very competitive match even more enjoyable. Both clubs have had to endure a number of very one-sided home matches this season, so it was a pleasant change to be kept on edge throughout Wednesday's fixture.

 

Congratulations to both teams on their efforts. Hopefully, the second leg will be as close and as competitive.

 

Adam Ellis though, doesn't seem to have improved at all from when he was at Birmingham last season!!!!!!

Edited by BBuck
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They did better than expected but Brum reserves 27 Eagles 2 says it all. If we can't do better than that then we won't win a match let alone an aggregate. However if we keep running them close like that they will have done us proud.

Luke was disappointing given recent improvement and ex home track experience with Cradley last year but Tom was always going to struggle on a track he probably has never even seen before and against 2 such reserves. I think Charley Powell will get the nod on Sunday instead of Luke and Tom on the track he grew up on might just add 3 or 4 points.

 

Whatever happens we are in for a couple of really exciting meetings and the whole team have given it their all this year which is all we can ask.

 

Lets just hope the weather stays fine and any of Speedways 'gremlins' don't spoil the ending.

 

Where were you expecting the Eagles reserves to pick points up? A lot to ask of them to be scoring against a team of 6 point plus riders away from home.

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Where were you expecting the Eagles reserves to pick points up? A lot to ask of them to be scoring against a team of 6 point plus riders away from home.

Not sure what the point of your question is.

I said they did better than I expected (as I had resigned myself in a previous post to a 12 point deficit). As regards the reserves I thought they would only get the mandatory 1 from heat 2.

 

Even in the home match I have only said MIGHT get 3 or 4 more because if Tom gets out the gate first he might be difficult to catch at the speed he goes round Arlington but I am not holding my breath.

 

What makes you think I was expecting the reserves to pick up points away?

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