Oxford v Poole 21/6/23 Championship.

[Jonnybegood]

7 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Just got back. Fair play to Oxford the three heat leaders were in peak form and we couldn’t live with them tonight. In fact a Poole rider didn’t actually beat an Oxford rider out of the gate until half way through the meeting. Worrall managed to pass Heeps in heat one,  Lawson passed Atkins in heat 4, All with Oxford on 5-1’s. They had their setups right and were completely dialled in. Heat after heat saw Oxford first and second out of the starts. A big crowd tonight, swelled by a lot of Poole fans and the lure from locals of watching the champions. 

Couple of big talking points though. Heat 15 and a completely out of control Nicholls smashed into Lawson on the third bend. A desperate and out of control move which saw Lawson heading to the fence, and but for his skills would have taken a purler. Unusual for Nicholls to act in such a way. The ref should have red lighted the race but for some unfathomable reason allowed it to continue! The result would not have changed from an Oxford win but the manoeuvre would have been more suited to WWE. Nicholls went up to Lawson after the race to what looked like an apology. Hope Lawson accepted it as he isn’t one to forget. 

The other talking point is gate 4. Shocking disadvantage from this gate. Was the same last time we were here. Surely it needs to be fixed? Even Masters ran a last out of it.

It is not Cricket Nigel .

[Arthur54]

Poole must have lost, Traçkrat has been on 

[Bryce]

Well that was only my second meeting of the season and it was very good. However, what I really wanted to say is a well done to the stewards and medical staff. I was literally standing next to the unfortunate gentleman who was injured. He feinted and hit his head on the ground very hard indeed inflicting a nasty wound. The response from stewards and medics was rapid and professional and deserves praise. Thankfully the gentleman was lucid and talking when they took him to the ambulance so hopefully no major damage done. Well done all at Oxford. 

[arnieg]

8 hours ago, szkocjasid said:

I agree, not sure why any Poole fans would be concerned about their title chances. I'm pretty sure ONE away defeat will not stop them getting into the top 6 in a 9 team league!

But the play-off system makes coming top very important.

Whoever comes top only has to beat 5th and 6th place teams to get the final (assuming they make the logical choice), whereas the runners up end up in a 'group of death'. (So if Poole don't come top they would have to beat Glasgow and Redcar to get to the final)

[lucifer sam]

8 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

The other talking point is gate 4. Shocking disadvantage from this gate. Was the same last time we were here. Surely it needs to be fixed? Even Masters ran a last out of it.

Sam Masters finished second in Heat 10 off gate 4.

At least it's possible to race at Oxford - it's not all over by the second bend as it is at Wimborne Road.  Terrific racing last night - a number of races where positions were still changing on the final lap.  I realise that may have given you a nosebleed, since you're not used to seeing it  

Great performance by Cheetahs last night - Poole's top end strength didn't do the job and the Oxford heat-leaders dominated, while another fantastic performance by Henry Atkins at reserve.  

Edited June 22, 2023 by lucifer sam

[szkocjasid]

48 minutes ago, arnieg said:

But the play-off system makes coming top very important.

Whoever comes top only has to beat 5th and 6th place teams to get the final (assuming they make the logical choice), whereas the runners up end up in a 'group of death'. (So if Poole don't come top they would have to beat Glasgow and Redcar to get to the final)

Poole don't need an "easy" path to make it to the final do they?

Obviously finishing top does have a small advantage, but as there are 5 teams a cut above the rest, top will most likely pick 6th plus one other strong team (injuries permitting).

Besides still have to beat another strong team over 3 legs in the final.

Even so, one loss at Oxford doesn't mean Poole aren't favourites to finish top imo.

Edited June 22, 2023 by szkocjasid

[lbw]

54 minutes ago, arnieg said:

But the play-off system makes coming top very important.

Whoever comes top only has to beat 5th and 6th place teams to get the final (assuming they make the logical choice), whereas the runners up end up in a 'group of death'. (So if Poole don't come top they would have to beat Glasgow and Redcar to get to the final)

Play Offs This season the top 6 are split into 2 groups of 3 with the winners of each group meeting in the Grand Final.

Not sure what advantage finishing top of the 'qualifying' league gives.

Edited June 22, 2023 by lbw

[LisaColette]

59 minutes ago, arnieg said:

But the play-off system makes coming top very important.

Whoever comes top only has to beat 5th and 6th place teams to get the final (assuming they make the logical choice), whereas the runners up end up in a 'group of death'. (So if Poole don't come top they would have to beat Glasgow and Redcar to get to the final)

Don't think it is very important as you put it. Finishing top just means you potentially lose the league title, like Leicester last season. Who is to say 6th place team doesn't have the form (they may need 4/5 wins in a row to get 6th place for example).

Definitely not as black and white as you make out. 

Edited June 22, 2023 by lisa-colette

[Cast1rn]

9 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

The other talking point is gate 4. Shocking disadvantage from this gate. Was the same last time we were here. Surely it needs to be fixed? Even Masters ran a last out of it.

Masters 0 was in heat 13 when he was out of gate 1, ironically Richie won out of gate 4 in that heat.

[Bojangles]

A thoroughly enjoyable meeting, and the atmosphere in the crowd was the best I've felt at a domestic speedway meeting in some time. Had the hairs standing up on the back of your neck. Poole fans always bring a good following and are very vocal, which adds to the occasion. The Oxford fans clearly fed off that and turned the volume up accordingly. It was all pretty respectful, apart from some sour Poole fans booing Nicholls in heat 15 when he just lifted and made a mistake - nothing intentional - and Lawson clearly accepted his apology with a shake of hands after the race. Some Poole fans were probably unsure if Lawson had forgiven Nicholls as they were already heading home after lap 2 of heat 15...a stream of them started to leave.

I was stood next the Poole following and is was quite comical listening to them, as they clearly aren't used to losing.

After heat 5 they were already accepting defeat: "I can't believe how bad we've been, this could be 55-35. We might as well give up now"
After heat 8 they were making team changes: "Roynon is just not good enough at this level, and Worrall isn't a heat leader anymore. We need to make at least two changes if we're going to win the playoffs"
After heat 14 they were dreaming of revenge at home: "If this was at Poole, we'd be thrashing them. No way Atkins scores more than four points. Masters won't get a maximum next time, so we'll easily beat them"

 

[Toady]

10 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

A big crowd tonight, swelled by a lot of Poole fans

Not more than a handful I would suggest and very subdued  not like the old days of the  happy clappers

[HGould]

Concur with all of the positive comments.

From the moment you park on the very secure car park and get on the modern coach and get dropped within a few hundred yards of the track.

Good entry points, food much improved from when I was there last year.

Massive crowd, great atmosphere, good hard racing , great work from paramedics sorting out the guy in the crowd and hope he's ok.

Poole below par and a disappointment but not to take anything away from Oxford, top 3 rode very well, especially Kerr, others chipped in, especially Atkins who is riding very confidetly and  as he says in a place where he feels valued and with senior riders mentoring him (no body better at Scott han that)

A lad I've long thought had potential - he suffered shoulder injury (not leg) at Somerset in 2019 just as he was performing better than Anders Rowe, missed a large chunk of season and ended up at mildenhall I remember in NDL. I recall going to one of 2 meetings at Plymouth in Covid year 2020 just before 2nd lock down in the September when he was outstanding against Young Lions outperforming Brennan / Edwards / Thompsons etc. 

 

He then did his shoulder fist NDL meeting in 2021 after winnign 2 rides and needed season off for a very serious op (like Kyle Howarth had) , obviously rusty at start of 2022 and big issue between his dad and Gary May (that goes back to 2019 I'm reliably informed and perceived lack of care by Somerset) so he left and unsettled last year.

 He's clearly at home at Oxford and riding NDL giving confidence for CL, acid test will be when he moves to top 5 - if he does - but he's certainly finally fulfilling potential.

Glad to hear Brummies won but I'm told again not a great crowd, probably 400-500 mark. I've no idea how many at Oxford last night - I'd say at least 1500 may be more, and obviously when Oxford can draw crowds like that then the sky is the limit for them in terms of potential.

One match doesn't mean Poole aren't still very strong favourites at end of the season, but at least now they know they are not invincible.  

Just a great night of Speedway and a reminder of what it can be and used to be in the late 70's and early 80's.

I'll be back!

 

 

 

 

[szkocjasid]

1 hour ago, lbw said:

Play Offs This season the top 6 are split into 2 groups of 3 with the winners of each group meeting in the Grand Final.

Not sure what advantage finishing top of the 'qualifying' league gives.

You get to pick your two opponents is the advantage to the team finishing top.

[szkocjasid]

52 minutes ago, lisa-colette said:

Don't think it is very important as you put it. Finishing top just means you potentially lose the league title, like Leicester last season. Who is to say 6th place team doesn't have the form (they may need 4/5 wins in a row to get 6th place for example).

Definitely not as black and white as you make out. 

I'd agree with you if you said the 5th place team, 6th place team could qualify by being the best of the 4 poor teams.

[arnieg]

1 hour ago, szkocjasid said:

Poole don't need an "easy" path to make it to the final do they?

Obviously finishing top does have a small advantage, but as there are 5 teams a cut above the rest, top will most likely pick 6th plus one other strong team (injuries permitting).

Besides still have to beat another strong team over 3 legs in the final.

Even so, one loss at Oxford doesn't mean Poole aren't favourites to finish top imo.

For once I think you are wrong!

Let's assume 3 teams (or even 4) are much better than the rest and equally good.

Then team that comes top gets to meet 5th and 6th. Chances of reaching final 90%. Chances of winning final 50%. Overall chance of winning 45%

Now for teams finishing 2nd and 3rd let's say chances of winning group are 40% (and for team 4, 20%). Then team finishing second in league only has 20% (40% x 50%) chance of winning title even though they only finished behind top team by a single race point

So that single race point difference has reduced the second place team's chance of winning the league from 45% to 20%.

That is a big difference

[LisaColette]

3 hours ago, Jonnybegood said:

It is not Cricket Nigel .

Talking of cricket, prob be a cricket score tomorrow at Redcar 

Edited June 22, 2023 by lisa-colette

[LisaColette]

30 minutes ago, szkocjasid said:

I'd agree with you if you said the 5th place team, 6th place team could qualify by being the best of the 4 poor teams.

Ok, 5th place then 

[StevePark]

3 minutes ago, lisa-colette said:

Talking of cricket, prob be a cricket score tonight at Redcar 

??? Have they (illegally) switched back to a Thursday race-night? Or have they moved up to the Premiership without telling anyone??? 

[LisaColette]

2 minutes ago, StevePark said:

??? Have they (illegally) switched back to a Thursday race-night? Or have they moved up to the Premiership without telling anyone??? 

Sneaky, quoting it before my edit lol. I often go from a Weds to a Friday. I obviously don't like Thurs for some reason! 

[LisaColette]

1 hour ago, Bojangles said:

A thoroughly enjoyable meeting, and the atmosphere in the crowd was the best I've felt at a domestic speedway meeting in some time. Had the hairs standing up on the back of your neck. Poole fans always bring a good following and are very vocal, which adds to the occasion. The Oxford fans clearly fed off that and turned the volume up accordingly. It was all pretty respectful, apart from some sour Poole fans booing Nicholls in heat 15 when he just lifted and made a mistake - nothing intentional - and Lawson clearly accepted his apology with a shake of hands after the race. Some Poole fans were probably unsure if Lawson had forgiven Nicholls as they were already heading home after lap 2 of heat 15...a stream of them started to leave.

I was stood next the Poole following and is was quite comical listening to them, as they clearly aren't used to losing.

After heat 5 they were already accepting defeat: "I can't believe how bad we've been, this could be 55-35. We might as well give up now"
After heat 8 they were making team changes: "Roynon is just not good enough at this level, and Worrall isn't a heat leader anymore. We need to make at least two changes if we're going to win the playoffs"
After heat 14 they were dreaming of revenge at home: "If this was at Poole, we'd be thrashing them. No way Atkins scores more than four points. Masters won't get a maximum next time, so we'll easily beat them"

 

Haha, that made me laugh reading that.