Redcar Bears v Poole Pirates

20/08/21

The Pirates fell into an all-too familiar trap of not closing out a meeting as they surrendered an eight -point lead and left Teesside with just a solitary consolation point, when three looked on the cards.

But the positive from this meeting was the sight of Benjamin Basso in Poole colours and looking very much the ticket as he banked five points and chalked up his maiden race win on debut. 

That race win was recorded in the fastest time of the meeting, the only sub-54 seconds recorded on the night. 

Despite that, and both Steve Worrall and Danny King unbeaten for the bulk of their rides, the Pirates failed to see out an eight-point advantage that they held as late as heat ten.

Having conceded a 5-1 in the opener, Poole righted the deficit across the next two heats with solid victories from Danyon Hume (heat two) and Steve Worrall (heat three) with Ben Cook and Stefan Nielsen respectively supporting those wins with third places. So when Danny King and Hume paired up for a re-run of heat four after Michael Palm-Toft had been disqualified for falling around the first turn, to secure a comfortable maximum heat advantage Poole were able to kick-on.

Basso, having changed his set-up after a nervous heat one, looked good in heat five, although Jake Allen was the victor. A majestic gate by Danny King in heat six had him never looking back and Ben Cook, back on the track where he had suffered that nastly upper-leg injury, was getting stuck in again but couldn't quite land a blow.  For much of heat seven Poole were sat on a 5-1 as Stefan Nielsen had done well to force a way to follow in Worrall's wake but Michael Palm-Toft was determined enough to keep the pressure turned right up to high and as the race entered the final few yards to the line he managed to pick Nielsen's pocket and grab second place. 

Basso made it third time lucky in terms of seeking out a race win and he did so in a tremendously quick time, 53.9 seconds. Whilst Hume's early point disappeared when he fell on the second lap, he quickly cleared himself and machine from the track to allow the race to proceed. 

Danny King played a captain's innings in heat nine to deny the Bears full advantage of their tactical deployment of Charles Wright and Worrall inflicted a further defeat on Wright in the very next heat, with Nielsen having it easy at the back once James Sarjeant pulled up. That put Poole in a seemingly controlling position at 26-34 with just five heats to go.

Redcar read it differently and an inspiring ride from Anders Rowe to lead home his 'coach', Rory Schlein for second place behind Michael Palm-Toft changed the landscape of this meeting. Schlein who was having a difficult night even found himself holding up Basso who looked to have the greater speed of the two Pirates but couldn't put it to its best effect. Rowe combined with Jake Allen in the very next heat but neither had any answers to the pace of Worrall, so Poole were still four up with three to go.

Sensationally Wright and Palm-Toft ended King's unbeaten sequence to square the meeting and the Bears still had Jake Allen's rider replacement outing up their sleeve, which proved to be a winning one in heat fourteen once he rounded Nielsen who was caught in two minds with Rowe trying to sneak up the inside. The 4-2 outcome put the Bears ahead for only the second time on the night and they produced a grandstand finish when both Wright and Allen denied Worrall his maximum with some clever interchanging down the back straight that saw them both negotiate their way by both the Pirates and complete a fourteen point turnround in just five heats.
 

REDCAR 48
C.Wright 3,2,2,2,3,3=15
J.Sarjeant 2',0,1',2,R=5+2
J.Allen 2,3,1',1',3,2'=12+3
R.Replacement 
M.Palm-Toft FD,2,3,2'=7+1
A.Rowe 2,0,0,2',2,1=7+1
J.Jenkins 0,1,1'=2+1
G.Blair 
POOLE 42
R.Schlein 1,1',1,R=3+1
B.Basso 0,2,3,0=5
S.Worrall 3,3,3,3,1=13
S.Nielsen 1,1,1,2=5
D.King 3,3,3,1,0=10
B.Cook 1,0,0,0=1
D.Hume 3,2',F,0=5+1

Ht 1:  C.Wright,  J.Sarjeant,  R.Schlein,  B.Basso 5-1  5-1 |54.8]
Ht 2:  D.Hume,  A.Rowe,  B.Cook,  J.Jenkins 2-4  7-5 [55.4]
Ht 3:  S.Worrall,  J.Allen,  S.Nielsen,  J.Sarjeant 2-4  9-9 [54]
Ht 4:  D.King,  D.Hume,  J.Jenkins,  M.Palm-Toft  (Fell d/q) 1-5  10-14 [54.3]
Ht 5:  J.Allen,  B.Basso,  R.Schlein,  A.Rowe 3-3  13-17 [54.3]
Ht 6:  D.King,  C.Wright,  J.Sarjeant,  B.Cook 3-3  16-20 [54.3]
Ht 7:  S.Worrall,  M.Palm-Toft,  S.Nielsen,  A.Rowe 2-4  18-24 [54.4]
Ht 8:  B.Basso,  J.Sarjeant,  J.Jenkins,  D.Hume  (Fell) 3-3 21-27 [53.9]
Ht 9:  D.King,  C.Wright  (TS),  J.Allen,  B.Cook 3-3  24-30 [55.1]
Ht 10:  S.Worrall,  C.Wright,  S.Nielsen,  J.Sarjeant  (Rtd) 2-4  26-34 [54.7]
Ht 11:  M.Palm-Toft,  A.Rowe,  R.Schlein,  B.Basso 5-1  31-35 [55.4]
Ht 12:  S.Worrall,  A.Rowe,  J.Allen,  B.Cook 3-3  34-38 [55.5]
Ht 13:  C.Wright,  M.Palm-Toft,  D.King,  R.Schlein  (Rtd) 5-1  39-39 [55.2]
Ht 14:  J.Allen,  S.Nielsen,  A.Rowe,  D.Hume 4-2  43-41 [55.3]
Ht 15:  C.Wright,  J.Allen,  S.Worrall,  D.King 5-1  48-42 [56]
Gates: POOLE deferred choice of gates REDCAR chose 2&4 | POOLE took gates 1&3 in heat 15
Referee G Hunter

Rider of the Night: Steve Worrall