A Matter of Opinion....Martyn Cornwell....03/05/2003

Martyn is a Mildenhall Fen Tigers fan.

I think the standard of racing has definitely got better and that's because the league has become more competitive. You only need a quick glance to see how many teams have entered it this year. Just going back over the last few seasons, the league has produced such riders as

Olly Allen, Lee Smethills, Chris Harris, James Birkinshaw, Ed Kennett to name a few.

Having seen a few Premier and Elite league meetings I can honestly say that the racing in the Conference is just as entertaining if not better.

The whole point of the Conference is to produce young riders for the future and having an old hand in the team is only beneficial to them. Whilst it's great to see the young 'uns flying around, the old hands like Malcolm Holloway, Graham Jones, Hollingworth and Burrows etc provide just as much entertainment on the track. At Mildenhall we have Wayne Broadhurst who is not technically an old hand but who can be seen every week in the pits helping the youngsters with their equipment, giving encouragement and just generally passing on good advice. (He also gets his round in at the bar afterwards!)

There would be nothing I'd like to see more. Tony Mole said at the start of last season that if Mildenhall won the league they would move up but then had a change of heart at the end of the season citing crowd figures as the main reason. If we have another successful season and build on the crowds we already have then I can see us coming in next year.

When Mildenhall were in the old National league we used to have some great tours in Scotland and on the south coast and nowadays I travel away with a great bunch so it will be nice to do it again.

Not having sold my soul to Murdoch yet I do not have Sky but can only assume this is the reason for it. Takes some getting used to when filling in the programme saying to oneself 'Red, Green, Blue' etc. but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter does it?Not having sold my soul to Murdoch yet I do not have Sky but can only assume this is the reason for it. Takes some getting used to when filling in the programme saying to oneself 'Red, Green, Blue' etc. but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter does it?

Coventry are looking very strong at the moment in the Elite but as Eastbourne found out last season, it's not over the fat bird sings. I have it on good authority (my mate Neil!) that Stoke will take some beating in the Premier so that's the kiss of death on those two then.

As for 'my' league, it would be easy to say Mildenhall this year with the strongest looking top 5 in the division, however Rye House with Kennett will not lose at Hoddesdon and it will be a case of how they fare away from home. Wimbledon look strong also with Barrett and Giffard going well and I don't think many teams will get anything at Newcastle either.

I'll stick with Mildenhall though....but I would say that wouldn't I?

This article was first published on 03/05/2003

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