The Story so Far......

[squibby]

Well, we just scraped home v. Stoke - Pav & Scud ( a more than acceptable guest showing ) kept us in it earlier on, and Lemo, Toni & SS woke up later in the meeting to give us the narrowest of wins. Not very inspiring, though, and no prospect of bonus points in the league if our home form continues like this.

Thought I'd do an early report on the riders, so here goes:-

Lemo - ' it does exactly what it says on the tin ' sums him up - a real professional and thank goodness we've got him.

Lee - ok so far. A real shame he walloped his head at Glasgow and was not able to build on the home paid max.

Toni - has done pretty good whilst easing himself back after the bad leg injury. A bit patchy at times, though, and still troubled by mechanical gremlins it seems.

Seemond - well, he is still the same old Seemond, isn't he ! After those two max's I thought he had really got his form going, but it's gone off the boil. It's still frustrating to see him well out of contention if he misses the gate, and to see him passed so often away after gating first. Too late to change him now.

Pavel - I think he has gone about his work quietly and has done as well as I'd hoped he would for us, apart from a couple of blips, like at Newcastle. Solid and reliable.

Nick - he's a great lad, but has been dealt a big blow by the way the track is this season, coz of his below par gating. Can't get the drive anymore to come from the back like last year, and it's hurting him when the visitors are slick from the tapes like Newport and Stoke recently. Away form not good. I fear he may be the first victim of any changes planned by the mgmt.

Ray - if he came into the team on the Island simply as an exercise so we could then use R/R, he must have lost the script, as he was clearly giving his all for us, winning his first outing and then crashing trying to sneak a win off the last corner in his second ride. I wish he'd taken it easy, done his allotted rides, and if he had then maybe he'd still be riding now and getting back to race fitness ? I apologise for inferring he wasn't fully committed to the Falcons a while ago !!

After all the pre-season hype, it has been disappointing so far, in my view, but then perhaps I was expecting too much ?

[paulboy]

My half-term report:-

Lemo - Top of the class by a mile. Quite honestly he's done better than I hoped, second in the PT averages and scoring well away everywhere

Lee -A disappointment to me. Still very effective at the CG, as long as he gates, but has done very little away. Room for improvement.

Toni - Loads of ability and still feeling his way back from a nasty injury. Has looked superb, if not blisteringly quick, on occasions and should improve as the season goes on.

Seemond - Like Squibby I thought he had it sussed at the beginning of the year but still almost impossible to know what you're going to get from the skipper. He can ride the away tracks but struggles on circuits he top scored at the year before. Frustratingly inconsistent.

Pavel - Doing his job well at reserve but may struggle when he's up in the team. The match winner at Newport.

Nick - Puts in loads of effort but, put bluntly, he's not good enough. Having said that there's no obvious alternative and at least you know Nick will give 100%.

After all the pre-season hype the season's been a bit of a let-down so far although we've been hit by the Kolenko farce. Hopefully Ray Morton will make a difference but the cup seems our best chance of silverware.

[peregrinner]

My perceptions ..............

We have made mistakes, suffered injuries, lost at home to Newport yet we are still in with a good chance in all competitions. Certainly we need to get the side settled in the next couple of weeks and go through the season without any further disasters if we are going to win any silverware, but there are many teams far worse off than we are.

The essential thing is to gain the bonus point at reading to qualify for the Premier Trophy semi-final. We can rely on Newport to not lose all five points to the Isle of Wight. Winning at Workington and Exeter does not make for a successful season but it proves that they are no pushovers.

Mark Lemon: Always a winner. Good attitude. Has made the starts when needed, and taken the odd breather when the situation was not crucial. Must be first choice pick and we cannot perform without him.

Lee Smethills: We saw him produce his first paid maximum but we saw him follow that up with a zilch although we know it was due to injury. Needs to believe in himself and should do well at reserve now that he has sponsorship in place.

Ray Morton: I remember him from years ago at Wimbledon alongside Todd Wiltshire and Roger Johns. Time will tell but I think we have another bargain here. Once he is over his injury I expect great things from him along with our other O.A.P. Toni Svab.

Toni Svab: A disappointment so far but the big positive is that although he starts slowly he seems to improve as each meeting progresses demonstrating his ability in heat 14. One day this will win us a match. STOKE!

Seemond Stephens: His relaxed approach can only help the other riders but I would like to see him push harder when he falls behind. He needs to get back to serious gardening as when he gets his furrow right he is unbeatable.

Nick Simmons: Courage aplenty last season gave him an award as the most entertaining rider as he rode the outside big and bumpy line. This season the track is so smooth he needs to gate. Gating is not his speciality so I hope he finds a nice rough track to relive his 2004 exploits in Exeter.

Pavel Ondrasik: The find of the season. He has started the season with some big scores and he still has heat 8 to turn a match. Hopefully he can recreate the Smethills role of 2003 and rise from reserve to heat leader.

Ben Barker: We must give him time to settle. We gave Graeme Gordon time in 2004 and he went on to prove his ability on a bike. We should not expect too much too soon but I think he will prove a useful long term addition.

We are at that point in the season where a couple of bad results can destroy confidence and a couple of good results can provide a springboard to success. Let us hope that lady luck is riding for us throughout June.