Poole Pirates v Oxford Cheetahs

A sombre atmosphere provided the backdrop for this Good Friday meeting, the large crowd stunned into silence by the tragic announcement that the present day voice of speedway Nigel Pearson had died, but the meeting provided plenty of moments that would have delighted Nigel himself, starting with two excellent gates from Zach Cook and, from gate four, Steve Worrall that left Troy Batchelor chasing shadows. 

Drew Kemp dominated heat two as eyes focused on the intense efforts from Nathan Ablitt as he applied pressure to third placed Dillon Ruml, over the first two laps. It was a challenge that Ablitt was to renew on the final circuit but without reward. Richard Lawson and Ben Cook made sure that local lad Kyle Newman was unable to stay in touch as they dug in for the second Poole maximum heat score in three heats, the Pirates switching positions as they crossed the line, Cook the winner. Heat four saw Ablitt take a heavy tumble as he entered turn one, an incident adjudged as an unsatisfactory start and all four welcomed back for the re-run. Skipper Danny King was once again deserted by his gating and that handed the initiative to Scott Nicholls and he proved to be the Cheetahs one and only race winner, Ruml again beating Ablitt to the point.

Lawson had a surprise pursuer in heat five, as Jack Thomas gave the Pirate plenty to think about whilst the more likely challenger, Troy Batchelor, had his attentions devoted to blocking the inside prodding of Ben Cook. In an effort to try and prevent Poole walking away with the meeting too early, Peter Schroek, the Cheetahs co-manager on duty for the day, opted to give Batchelor two on the trot, replacing Nathan Stoneman with him. Batchelor was too enthusiastic first time of asking as he moved before the tapes were released and was given a warning, but second time around it was Steve Worrall making the cleanest of starts to set up his second win of the meeting whilst Zach Cook endured the same problems his brother had in the previous heat, unable to get under Batchelor despite the temptation as the Oxford tactical substitute kept leaving a gap. The red lights were on again in heat seven, this time Kyle Newman taking an unplanned trip into the safety fence and walked back to the pits to the knowledge that he would have to sit out the re-run, disqualified as the primary cause of the stoppage. In that re-start King secured his first win of his last four Wimborne Road outings, Kemp 'heaping' pressure on Cameron Heeps to convert it into another 5-1. Kemp was out again in heat eight but a broken chain left him rooted to the start, but partner Zach Cook gave neither Ruml or Jack Thomas any hope of stopping him. An early attempt from Nicholls in heat nine came to nothing as Lawson and Ben Cook began a Poole run of maximum heat scores; Worrall and Zach Cook both squeezing Newman out around the first arc after the Oxford lad had been first to show from the tapes in heat ten.

Kemp bounced back from his non-start and made a brilliant first turn to get by Batchelor, King rapidly following suit and although Batchelor refused to throw in the towel the hat-trick of Poole maximums was being chalked up. Heat twelve witnessed a nasty incident as Ablitt got too close to Stoneman down the home straight with the Oxford stand-in Stoneman being flung heavily into the boards. After some anxious moments he rose to his feet and returned to the pits to prepare for the re-run that would take place without the luckless Ablitt who had caused the unintentional crash. Lawson roared to another unbeaten ride to protect Poole's twenty-two point lead. That margin was further increased in heat thirteen as Worrall resorted to using his "wing mirrors" well to keep out the closing Nicholls whilst King took the victory. Ben Cook ran out of track in heat fourteen amidst his efforts to try and get by Newman whilst Kemp was in command, but the Aussie cleared the track swiftly, although the result of the shared heat was awarded given the lateness of the fall. Lawson secured his first home maximum, but, for the first time in thirty-seven Poole outings Worrall was left pointless from a heat when he was pegged on the line by Dillon Ruml for third place in heat fifteen.
 

POOLE 58
S.Worrall,3,3,3,2',0=11+1 (5)
Z.Cook,2',0,3,2'=7+2 (4)
R.Lawson,2',3,2',3,3=13+2 (5)
B.Cook,3,0,3,FD=6 (4)
D.King,2,3,2',3=10+1 (4)
D.Kemp,3,2',R,3,3=11+1 (5)
N.Ablitt,0,0,NS,XD=0 (3)
.
OXFORD 32
T.Batchelor,0,1',1',1,0=3+2 (5)
J.Thomas,1,2,1',0=4+1 (4)
C.Heeps,0,1,0,2=3 (4)
K.Newman,1,XD,1,2=4 (4)
S.Nicholls,3,2,1,1,2=9 (5)
N.Stoneman,2,NS,0,1'=3+1 (3)
D.Ruml,1',1,2,1',1'=6+3 (5)
.
Ht 1:  S.Worrall, Z.Cook, J.Thomas, T.Batchelor 5-1 5-1 [60.06]
Ht 2:  D.Kemp, N.Stoneman, D.Ruml, N.Ablitt 3-3 8-4 [60.15]
Ht 3:  B.Cook, R.Lawson, K.Newman, C.Heeps 5-1 13-5 [61]
Ht 4:  S.Nicholls, D.King, D.Ruml, N.Ablitt 2-4 15-9 [60.15]
Ht 5:  R.Lawson, J.Thomas, T.Batchelor, B.Cook 3-3 18-12 [60.6]
Ht 6:  S.Worrall, S.Nicholls, T.Batchelor, Z.Cook, N.Stoneman [NS] 3-3 21-15 [60.6]
Ht 7:  D.King, D.Kemp, C.Heeps, K.Newman[exc] 5-1 26-16 [60.69]
Ht 8:  Z.Cook, D.Ruml, J.Thomas, D.Kemp [rtd], N.Ablitt [NS] 3-3 29-19 [60.59]
Ht 9:  B.Cook, R.Lawson, S.Nicholls, N.Stoneman 5-1 34-20 [61]
Ht 10:  S.Worrall, Z.Cook, K.Newman, C.Heeps 5-1 39-21 [61.19]
Ht 11:  D.Kemp, D.King, T.Batchelor, J.Thomas 5-1 44-22 [61.31]
Ht 12:  R.Lawson, C.Heeps, N.Stoneman, N.Ablitt[exc] 3-3 47-25 [61.44]
Ht 13:  D.King, S.Worrall, S.Nicholls, T.Batchelor 5-1 52-26 [60.9]
Ht 14:  D.Kemp, K.Newman, D.Ruml, B.Cook [fell exc] 3-3 55-29 [awd]
Ht 15:  R.Lawson, S.Nicholls, D.Ruml, S.Worrall 3-3 58-32 [60.97]
REFEREE: Craig Ackroyd 
OXFORD won toss and deferred choice to heat 15; POOLE chose gates 2&4 |OXFORD choose gates 1&3 in heat 15  
League Points: POOLE 3 OXFORD 0