REPORT: Edinburgh 47 (87) v Poole 43 (92)

Poole Wessex Marine Pirates secured their place in the Cab Direct semi-finals by surviving a strong start from the Edinburgh Monarchs but eventually able to protect all but four of their nine point lead from the first leg.

Edinburgh went into this second leg knowing that they needed at least three heat advantages to wipe out the Pirates first leg nine point lead and they set about that task emphatically.  

Josh Pickering, who missed the parade lap as he was detained in the pits attending to a puncture, missed absolutely nothing once the tapes went up in the opening heat as too did partner Lasse Fredriksen, leaving Richard Lawson, from gate four,  far too much to do, whilst it proved to be a mucky first ride for Tobias Thomsen, falling on the fourth turn, although to his credit, he sportingly quickly remounted despite having lost acres of ground on the rest of the pack. A mistake by Sam Hagon around the first turn in heat two allowed Max James to take up the running, but the Poole reserves kept Connor Coles out of the points to share the heat. A battling ride by Tom Brennan served to split Kye Thomson from his race leading captain, 'Paco' Castagna as Zach Cook found the going tough from his gate four starting position in heat three.  A third heat advantage came the Monarchs way in the fourth but a good ride by Ben Cook to pass Coles ensured that Poole retained a slender, aggregate lead of a single point.

A track grade allowed the Pirates to regroup and try to work out where their first winner was to come from and it was supplied, somewhat unexpectly  by Tobias Thomsen who took control, backed up splendidly by Lawson to send the message to the Monarchs that they wouldn't have everything their own way. A statement that was further endorsed when captain Ben Cook produced a vital win over Josh Pickering in heat six, one in which Hagon took a fall but again jumped back aboard. Brennan bided his time in heat seven to work out the best way of getting by Sedgmen and on lap four had it totally sussed and from four heats without a winner, Poole suddenly had them queuing up.

Proving that his heat five success was no fluke, Tobias collected his second victory although Max Perry couldn't quite add to his paid second from his first ride as Fredriksen worked a passage by to try and set about Thomsen. This  shared heat was immediately followed by another, in heat nine as Ben Cook enjoyed a tapes to flag comprehensive win and then Brennan became the third Pirate to enjoy a second victory, his coming despite growing pressure from Pickering who had edged by Zach Cook, the latter however not being realistically threatened by Frediksen as the evening's scores were levelled up.

They were to stay that way across the next four heats, the first of which saw Lawson and Thomsen left with plenty of work to do by the time they arrived at the first turn. Matters were made a little easier for them when James happened to get a little out of shape around the pit turn, before things settled down for the 3-3.  Brennan produced what was to be the only win off gate four producing Poole's share of the spoils and taking the Pirates to the brink of 'job done'. A superb heat thirteen witnessed Pickering stunningly come from the back to pass both Ben Cook and then, as the final flag was being prepared, Lawson to give the Monarchs a narrow glimpse of qualifying on a mathematical basis, as the aggregate difference remained at nine with two heats to go, but that would have required Poole failing to finish in both.

There was no question of Zach Cook failing to finish in heat fourteen as he ended his night with a fine win to take Poole on to and past the aggregate ninety points target, but the meeting was stil going into a last heat verdict to determine which side would win on the night. Pickering and Sedgmen made that their own as they detained Brennan in third place, but Poole had acheived the minimum they were seeking, a place in the semi-finals. 

EDINBURGH 47
Josh Pickering 3,2,2,3,3=13 (5)
Lasse Fredriksen 2',1',2,0=5+2 (4)
Kye Thomson 1,0,1',2=4+1 (4)
Michele Castagna 3,1,2,2=8 (4)
Justin Sedgmen 3,2,3,0,2'=10+1 (5)
Max James 3,0,0,1'=4+1 (4)
Connor Coles 0,1,1',1'=3+2 (4)
.
POOLE 43
Richard Lawson 1,2,2,2=7 (4)
Tobias Thomsen 0,3,3,1'=7+1 (4)
Tom Brennan 2,3,3,3,0=11 (5)
Zach Cook 0,1,1,3=5 (4)
Ben Cook 2,3,3,1',1=10+1 (5)
Sam Hagon 2,0,0,0=2 (4)
Max Perry 1',0,0,0=1+1 (4)
.
Ht 1:  J.Pickering, L.Fredriksen, R.Lawson, T.Thomsen 5-1 5-1 [55.8]
Ht 2:  M.James, S.Hagon, M.Perry, C.Coles 3-3 8-4 [58.1]
Ht 3:  M.Castagna, T.Brennan, K.Thomson, Z.Cook 4-2 12-6 [56.5]
Ht 4:  J.Sedgmen, B.Cook, C.Coles, M.Perry 4-2 16-8 [57.1]
Ht 5:  T.Thomsen, R.Lawson, M.Castagna, K.Thomson 1-5 17-13 [57.6]
Ht 6:  B.Cook, J.Pickering, L.Fredriksen, S.Hagon 3-3 20-16 [56.7]
Ht 7:  T.Brennan, J.Sedgmen, Z.Cook, M.James 2-4 22-20 [57.4]
Ht 8:  T.Thomsen, L.Fredriksen, C.Coles, M.Perry 3-3 25-23 [58.7]
Ht 9:  B.Cook, M.Castagna, K.Thomson, S.Hagon 3-3 28-26 [57.5]
Ht 10:  T.Brennan, J.Pickering, Z.Cook, L.Fredriksen 2-4 30-30 [56.8]
Ht 11:  J.Sedgmen, R.Lawson, T.Thomsen, M.James 3-3 33-33 [58.2]
Ht 12:  T.Brennan, K.Thomson, C.Coles, S.Hagon 3-3 36-36 [58.1]
Ht 13:  J.Pickering, R.Lawson, B.Cook, J.Sedgmen 3-3 39-39 [58.4]
Ht 14:  Z.Cook, M.Castagna, M.James, M.Perry 3-3 42-42 [58.8]
Ht 15:  J.Pickering, J.Sedgmen, B.Cook, T.Brennan 5-1 47-43 [59.2]

SCB Referee Graeme Hunter 
POOLE won toss and chose gates 2&4 | EDINBURGH choose gates 1&3 in heat 15  
Aggregate Score EDINBURGH 87 POOLE 92
 

Read the post match reaction here