Poole Pirates v Edinburgh Monarchs

Pirates maintained their unbeaten run with a 48-42 win over Edinburgh, stretching their sequence to nine meetings, ahead of their forthcoming three-match Northern Tour.

Rory Schlein set his stall out early, storming to a season-fastest 59.15 seconds leaving the in-form Sam Masters in his wake. There was action behind as guest Kyle Bickley put pressure on William Lawson but was unable to make his efforts tell. Fellow guest Zach Cook, deputising for injured brother Ben, made a sharp start in heat two and his victory was converted into a Poole advantage when Danyon Hume gained reward for all his hard work in trying to split Nathan Greaves and Luke Crang, his persistence eventually paying off, although helped when Crang made an error exiting turn four for the final time.

The strong pair of Steve Worrall and Stefan Nielsen gated well in heat three but Josh Pickering showed intent as he stormed between them. Nielsen momentarily drifted to the rear but quickly made amends to pass Kye Thomson and allow Poole to double their lead (11-7). Hume again caught the eye, when in heat four he passsionately defended his second place, behind skipper Danny King, with Richie Worrall in hot pursuit. To his great relief, Hume just managed to hold on as they crossed the line, a short-head the margin between the two, but it was to be Poole's only 5-1 of the night.
Nielsen had Masters looking in all directions on the opening lap of heat five but then the race became well strung out with Worrall heading the charge, Poole putting another two point advantage between the sides (20-10).

Schlein was leading heat six when backmarker Crang fell on the southern turn, remounted only to lose it again when he approached the pits turn half a lap later. Although the Monarch's newly recruited Rising Star tried to clear track, the red lights came on to protect him, referee Barbara Horley declaring the result as another 4-2 to the home side. 
Danny King made the best of his speed coming out of the pit turn and the race outcome looked assured, although Pickering came on very strong on the final lap and very nearly pinched it, but the Monarchs had to settle for a shared heat. 
Hume was the tapes to flag winner of heat eight, but all eyes focused on the battle between Greaves and one-time second Bickley which developed into an intriguing challenge, before the Edinburgh reserve collected second and Poole had to settle for the 4-2 and a 31-17 advantage with over half the heats raced.

The Monarchs knew they need to act swiftly if they had any hope of salvaging the meeting, so in came Sam Masters as a tactical substitute to partner up with Richie Worrall, and those past-Pirates prevailed over the present incumbents, Steve Worrall working hard after missing the start from his gate four position. Heat ten, and the heart was in the mouth throughout, as the Monarchs gated on a 5-1 but Schlein swiftly split them. Then, on lap two Pickering found himself in trouble at the pit turn and Schlein capitalised, but only for a lap as in the very same place he too hit problems and Pickering regained his early advantage. The meeting headed into the interval with eight points between the two sides.
Sam Masters collected his first outright win of the night when racing resumed, pulling clear of King. Cook recovered well after lifting at the start, doing enough to share the heat. 
Steve Worrall owned heat twelve and had Hume in tow early doors but Thomson moved him over enough on the south turn to split the Pirates, a fairly crucial move come the final sharing of league points. Rory Schlein provided a vital win in heat thirteen, a big margin one, but King couldn't land a blow, although the shared heat was sufficient to protect Poole's unbeaten sequence at the very least. Trading places out front for the first two laps of heat 14 were Pickering and Nielsen, whilst Cook had his own early battle with Greaves over the same distance, before the race concluded as a 3-3. Just as they had done so in heat nine, Richie Worrall and Masters paired up in the final race to salvage a consolation point and ensure that Edinburgh's southern tour was not entirely point-less (having lost by ten points the previous evening at Plymouth).
Poole will be hoping that when they leave Armadale on Friday night they too will be doing so with at least a point for their efforts.

POOLE 48
R.Schlein 3,3,2,3,1=12
K.Bickley 0,1,1=2
S.Worrall 3,3,1,3,0=10
S.Nielsen 1,1,0,2=4
D.King 3,3,2,0=8
Z.Cook 3,0,1',1'=5+2
D.Hume 1,2',3,0,1=7+1

EDINBURGH 42
S.Masters 2,2,2',3,2,2'=13+2
W.Lawson 1',0,0=1+1
K.Thomson 0,1',1,2=4+1
J.Pickering 2,2,3,3=10
R.Worrall 1,2,3,1',3=10+1
L.Crang 0,FD,0
N.Greaves 2,0,2,0,0=4

Ht 1:  R.Schlein,  S.Masters,  W.Lawson,  K.Bickley 3-3  3-3 |59.15]
Ht 2:  Z.Cook,  N.Greaves,  D.Hume,  L.Crang 4-2  7-5 [61.41]
Ht 3:  S.Worrall,  J.Pickering,  S.Nielsen,  K.Thomson 4-2  11-7 [60.38]
Ht 4:  D.King,  D.Hume,  R.Worrall,  N.Greaves 5-1  16-8 [60.94]
Ht 5:  S.Worrall,  S.Masters,  S.Nielsen,  W.Lawson 4-2  20-10 [60.41]
Ht 6:  R.Schlein,  R.Worrall,  K.Bickley,  L.Crang  (Fell d/q) 4-2  24-12 [awd]
Ht 7:  D.King,  J.Pickering,  K.Thomson,  Z.Cook 3-3  27-15 [60.69]
Ht 8:  D.Hume,  N.Greaves,  K.Bickley,  W.Lawson 4-2 31-17 [62.5]
Ht 9:  R.Worrall,  S.Masters,  S.Worrall,  S.Nielsen 1-5  32-22 [60.37]
Ht 10:  J.Pickering,  R.Schlein,  K.Thomson,  D.Hume 2-4  34-26 [61.35]
Ht 11:  S.Masters,  D.King,  Z.Cook,  N.Greaves 3-3  37-29 [60.81]
Ht 12:  S.Worrall,  K.Thomson,  D.Hume,  L.Crang 4-2  41-31 [61.47]
Ht 13:  R.Schlein,  S.Masters,  R.Worrall,  D.King 3-3  44-34 [60.94]
Ht 14:  J.Pickering,  S.Nielsen,  Z.Cook,  N.Greaves 3-3  47-37 [61.93]
Ht 15:  R.Worrall, S.Masters,   R.Schlein,  S.Worrall 1-5  48-42 [61.81]
Gates: POOLE won toss and chose gates 1&3 | EDINBURGH took gates 1&3 in heat 15
Referee Barbara Horley

Rider of the Night: Rory Schlein