Poole Pirates v Glasgow Tigers

3/09/21

Poole refused third-placed Glasgow any chance to settle as they sent the Tigers to their biggest defeat of the season. Poole's 56-34 victory assures them of a top six finish at the very least and thus a guaranteed place in the play-offs.

In his swansong season Rory Schlein powered away from the tapes whilst partner Ben Basso was standing his ground well as he applied pressure on Broc Nicol in the early stages of heat one, but the Dane was not suspecting Craig Cook to come sneaking up the inside and relegate him to fourth place. Basso never gave up hope and mounted a late challenge but the heat was shared, and that proved to be the closest the Tigers to hold the Pirates to.

Danyon Hume was untroubled out front in heat two, two places behind him guest Dillon Ruml was working hard to try and improve on his third place, but without success and so Poole broke clear by just the two points. A solid ride by Ben Cook to back up the first of Steve Worrall's maiden Poole maximum rides gave Poole a 5-1, before Danny King weighed things up perfectly in heat four to maintain his string of Wimborne Road race wins. His heat four triumph came after he passed Ricky Wells on the second lap, all the while Hume was sat comfortably in third.

Steve Worrall had the troublesome Nicol breathing down his neck throughout heat five that had a pair of Cooks battling for the minor point which went the way of the Glasgow version. Some excellent team riding displayed by Schlein in heat six ensured Ben Basso the win and a 24-12 score-line, before King won his twelth successive race at Wimborne Road without too much trouble. The hard work was done by Ruml however after his race looked over when he lifted at the tapes. But Sam Jensen was moved a little too far wide by his partner Brennan and Ruml was there to pounce for a point and again give Poole twice as many points as the Tigers, not only from the heat but also on the progressive scores, 28-14.

Basso made an electric start in heat eight and with Hume third the symmetry of the scores was retained. There were plenty of elbows jutting out as riders attacked the first turn of heat nine with Ben Cook coming off worse. Worrall on the other hand got clear of the traffic and withheld some interest from Craig Cook whilst Ben could only watch Wells' rear wheel, unable to get close enough to pounce. Jensen made a flying start in heat ten and looked to have got away with it but team-mate Brennan fell at the first turn causing the race to be called back. An even start in the re-run with the two Tigers showing ahead but the Poole boys (Schlein and Basso) were able to relegate Brennan to the back and whilst Basso chased Jensen hard he couldn't prevent a Glasgow race winner being recorded for the first time in the meeting.

Nicol dismantled the tapes with an all-too eager start, slightly distracted no doubt by a twitching Ruml. In the re-run that had Connor Bailey replacing the disqualified American Tiger, Danny King made the running and Ruml was left chasing down Bailey. In his eager efforts he ran too wide and crashed out, doing well to clear the track although not quite quick enough to have the red lights come on and race awarded.

Glasgow looked set for a 4-2 in heat twelve when Brennan's bike began to falter on the final lap around the pit turn, allowing Worrall and Hume in for a 5-1, but it was Brennan who had to gain that point as Crang fell coming off that third from last turn, leaving the British U21 champion to push home a distance of over half a lap. King made it a comfortable programmed ride maximum, his third successive Wimborne Road full house and had Schlein contributing with a third place. Glasgow sprung a surprise in heat fourteen with Bailey and Jensen combining for a 5-1 over Ruml and Cook but their biggest defeat of the season todate was confronting them despite the efforts in the final heat of Nicol who was enjoying the unfamiliar sight of not seeing a dirt deflector ahead of him. Until that was he lost control on the final third turn and took a heavy fall, as the evening faded into a subdued close with a Poole 5-1.

POOLE 56
Rory Schlein 3,2',1',1,3 =10+2
Ben Basso 0,3,3,2,2' =10+1
Steve Worrall 3,3,3,3 =12
Ben Cook 2',0,0,0 =2+1
Danny King 3,3,3,3 =12
Dillon Ruml 1,1,FD,1 =3
Danyon Hume 3,1,1,2' =7+1
.
GLASGOW 34
Craig Cook 1',1',2,2,2 =8+2
Broc Nicol 2,2,2,XE,F =6
Tom Brennan 1,2,0,1 =4
Sam Jensen 0,0,3,2',1 =6+1
Ricky Wells 2,1,1',0 =4+1
Luke Crang 0,0,R =0
Connor Bailey 2,0,0,1',3 =6+1
.
Ht.1 R.Schlein,B.Nicol,C.Cook,B.Basso,3-3 3-3 (59.63)
Ht.2 D.Hume,C.Bailey,D.Ruml,L.Crang,4-2 7-5 (61.34)
Ht.3 S.Worrall,B.Cook,T.Brennan,S.Jensen,5-1 12-6 (60.65)
Ht.4 D.King,R.Wells,D.Hume,C.Bailey,4-2 16-8 (60.75)
Ht.5 S.Worrall,B.Nicol,C.Cook,B.Cook,3-3 19-11 (60.78)
Ht.6 B.Basso,R.Schlein,R.Wells,L.Crang,5-1 24-12 (61.47)
Ht.7 D.King,T.Brennan,D.Ruml,S.Jensen,4-2 28-14 (60.66)
Ht.8 B.Basso,B.Nicol,D.Hume,C.Bailey,4-2 32-16 (60.91)
Ht.9 S.Worrall,C.Cook,R.Wells,B.Cook,3-3 35-19 (60.72)
Ht.10 S.Jensen,B.Basso,R.Schlein,T.Brennan,3-3 38-22 (61.85)
Ht.11 D.King,C.Cook,C.Bailey,B.Nicol (exc.tapes),D.Ruml (Fell exc),3-3 41-25 (AWD)
Ht.12 S.Worrall,D.Hume,T.Brennan,L.Crang (rtd),5-1 46-26 (61.63)
Ht.13 D.King,C.Cook,R.Schlein,R.Wells,4-2 50-28 (61.16)
Ht.14 C.Bailey,S.Jensen,D.Ruml,B.Cook,1-5 51-33 (61.91)
Ht.15 R.Schlein,B.Basso,S.Jensen,B.Nicol (fell),5-1 56-34 (62.56)
SCB Referee: Dave Robinson
POOLE win toss and defer to heat 15. GLASGOW take gates 1&3 in heat 1 Poole took 1&3 in heat 15
Rider of the Night: Steve Worrall