Poole Pirates v Berwick Bandits
9/06/21Zane Keleher's dream of getting the meeting off to a Poole 5-1 looked an early possibility as he and guest Hans Andersen made a good start in the re-start of heat one, after a tight first attempt had Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen coming down. But the Dane hunted Keleher down in that re-run restricting the Pirates to a 4-2 opener.
The impressive Leon Flint steered the Bandits to a levelling 4-2 in the reserves heat and honours were shared in the next two.
Poole broke away with a good combination of Stefan Nielsen and Steve Worrall and two heats later Cook and skipper Danny King fired in another 5-1, the Bandits having claimed a 4-2 in the intervening heat. They then relied on solid team riding between Flint and Bickley to restrict Cook to third place and trim the deficit to just two points at the halfway stage.
The Pirates responded through that Worrall/Nielsen pairing in heat 9 and Cook and Andersen followed suit in heat 10 although Jye Etheridge need passing by both Pirates before a 10 point lead was established. Cook made it two wins in as many heats with victory in heat 11, his captain just managing to rob Bandit Aaron Summers, taking a tactical substitute ride, at the flag.
Hume worked tirelessly to try and overcome Flint in heat 12 but the shared heat, won by Worrall, kept Poole with a handy lead, that was extended when Andersen pulled clear in heat 13, Busk Jakobsen denying King a route through despite immense efforts from the former British champion.
Poole looked set to finish with a real powerhouse, but in heat 14 leader Nielsen fell and Bickley and Flint combined yet again for a 5-1 in the re-run, not allowing Cook any openings at all. But Worrall and Andersen finished it in style to give the Pirates a 52-38 victory from their first home meeting since joining the SGB Championship.
POOLE - 52: B.Cook 13 (2,3,1,3,3,1), S.Worrall 13+1 (2,2',3,3,3), H.Andersen 12+2 (3,2,2',3,2'), D.King 7+1 (3,2',1,1), S.Nielsen 6+2 (1',3,2',FD), Z.Keleher 1 (1,0,0), D.Hume 0 (0,0,0)
BERWICK - 38: L.Flint 11+2 (0,3,2,3,1',2',0), K.Bickley 8+1 (1,0,1,2',1,3), A.Summers 6+1 (1',3,0,2,0), J.Etheridge 6 (3,0,1,2), N.Busk-Jakobsen 6 (2,1,0,2,1), D.Gappmaier 1 (0,1,0)
POOLE 52
H.Andersen 3,2,2',3,2'=12+2
Z.Keleher 1,0,0=1
S.Worrall 2,2',3,3,3=13+1
S.Nielsen 1',3,2',FD=6+2
D.King 3,2',1,1=7+1
B.Cook 2,3,1,3,3,1=13
D.Hume 0,0,0
BERWICK 38
N.Busk-Jakobsen 2,1,0,2,1=6
R.Replacement
J.Etheridge 3,0,1,2=6
D.Gappmaier 0,1,0=1
A.Summers 1',3,0,2,0=6+1
K.Bickley 1,0,1,2',1,3=8+1
L.Flint 0,3,2,3,1',2',0=11+2
Ht 1: H.Andersen, N.Busk-Jakobsen , Z.Keleher , L.Flint 4-2 4-2 |61.28]
Ht 2: L.Flint, B.Cook, K.Bickley , D.Hume 2-4 6-6 [60.72]
Ht 3: J.Etheridge , S.Worrall , S.Nielsen , D.Gappmaier 3-3 9-9 [60.72]
Ht 4: D.King, L.Flint, A.Summers , D.Hume 3-3 12-12 [60.93]
Ht 5: S.Nielsen , S.Worrall , N.Busk-Jakobsen , K.Bickley 5-1 17-13 [60.75]
Ht 6: A.Summers , H.Andersen, K.Bickley , Z.Keleher 2-4 19-17 [60.38]
Ht 7: B.Cook, D.King, D.Gappmaier , J.Etheridge 5-1 24-18 [60.37]
Ht 8: L.Flint, K.Bickley , B.Cook, Z.Keleher 1-5 25-23 [61.9]
Ht 9: S.Worrall , S.Nielsen , K.Bickley , A.Summers 5-1 30-24 [60.5]
Ht 10: B.Cook, H.Andersen, J.Etheridge , D.Gappmaier 5-1 35-25 [60.59]
Ht 11: B.Cook, A.Summers , D.King, N.Busk-Jakobsen 4-2 39-27 [60.53]
Ht 12: S.Worrall , J.Etheridge , L.Flint, D.Hume 3-3 42-30 [61.06]
Ht 13: H.Andersen, N.Busk-Jakobsen , D.King, A.Summers 4-2 46-32 [61.16]
Ht 14: K.Bickley , L.Flint, B.Cook, S.Nielsen (Fell d/q) 1-5 47-37 [62.04]
Ht 15: S.Worrall , H.Andersen, N.Busk-Jakobsen , L.Flint 5-1 52-38 [61.54]
Gates: POOLE won toss and chose gates 1&3 | BERWICK took gates 1&3 in heat 15
Referee C.Turnbull
League Points POOLE 3 BERWICK 0
Rider of the Night: Ben Cook
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