REPORT: Poole Pirates v Edinburgh Monarchs

1/06/22

A sub-fifty nine seconds four laps, the fastest time of the season so far at Wimborne Road, achieved by Sam Masters gave the Pirates warning of the Monarch's intent and with guest Jason Edwards, taking the first rider replacement outing for the visitors, who were without injured Lasse Fredriksen and James Sarjeant, not allowing Zach Cook to get amongst the points, it was the Scottish side that went ahead.

But the Poole reserves responded instantly, even though it took a re-run after Jacob Hook lost control when under pressure from Nathan Ablitt leaving the third turn first of asking . Kemp was sharper away in the re-start even easing Edwards wide to allow Ablitt to fill the void, but the stand-in quickly got back on a racing line to split the Poole pair.

Steve Worrall and Ben Cook were well in command of heat three, which failed to go the distance after Kye Thomson, pursuing in third, took a fall on the third circuit, a simple case of over-riding and rightly the heat was awarded, gifting Michele 'Paco' Castagna a point. Josh Pickering and Edwards were the first two riders to show in heat four but Richard Lawson stormed down the back straight to split the duo as Edinburgh took two points off the deficit.

A classic ride from Masters highlighted heat five. The Edinburgh skipper having stubbornly been held off his compatriot Ben Cook for a lap and a half. Once by, Masters set about the chase on Worrall and for his efforts was able to pick him off over the final half lap to deny Poole the chance of building on their lead. Danny King demonstrated good skills to hold out against Josh Pickering, Zach Cook then almost joined in the fun up at the front round the first turn of heat six but Pickering stood firm, restricting the Pirates to a 4-2. A 5-1 though came their way, just when they needed it. Lawson and Kemp prevailing from the tapes in heat seven, but Thomson kept things interesting with a late wide charge on the Poole reserve.

Things didn’t end quite so well for Kemp in heat eight when doing two on the trot, as he was thrown awkwardly off his machine as he locked up chasing Edwards hard in a bid to join Zach Cook at the front, so another heat advantage escaped the Pirates and Edinburgh were keeping the meeting alive.
Ben Cook produced a great ride in heat nine, this time trumping Masters perfectly to give Poole an unexpected 5-1 as the Monarchs had called upon their skipper as a tactical substitute to partner Pickering; Steve Worrall winning from the off.
Big problems for Zach Cook in heat ten after doing all the hard work to link up with Danny King at the front his bike unceremoniously seized up, the visitors fortunate to share another heat.
Lawson had absolutely no answers to the craft of Masters, the visiting number one getting off the grid quickly. Behind these two Kemp bravely tried to battle on after his earlier big off but showed signs of discomfort and he couldn't land a blow on Edwards. Heat twelve saw Ablitt ride his heart out as he attempted to block out two-on-the bounce Edwards and it looked as if he would triumph for a hard earned point until a slight error on the last turn was ruthlessly punished
Poole's lead at this stage was ten points and Lawson demonstrated his determination to not allow that to slip any under his watch as he stormed by Masters to set up the win but at the rear, King was unable to get close enough to cause any problems. A stunning second lap from Ben Cook in heat 14 saw him pass Castagna on the outside and then seemingly effortlessly slip up the inside of Edwards to make it another shared heat and also making the Monarch's task of adding to their league tally that little bit harder as it retained Poole's ten point lead, meaning Masters and Pickering needed a 5-1.
Masters was untroubled out front, even by the chasing Worrall but Lawson was keeping close tabs on Pickering and by the time the second Monarch found a way by it was too late to get that needed result.

POOLE 49
D.King 2,3,3,0=8 (4)
Z.Cook 0,1,3,R=4 (4)
S.Worrall 3,2,3,3,2=13 (5)
B.Cook 2',1',2',3=8+3 (4)
R.Lawson 2,3,2,3,0=10 (5)
D.Kemp 3,2',XD,0,0=5+1 (5)
N.Ablitt 1,0,RS,0=1 (3)
.
EDINBURGH 41
S.Masters 3,3,1,3,2,3=15 (6)
R.Replacement
K.Thomson F,1,1',2=4+1 (4)
M.Castagna 1,0,1',2,1'=5+2 (5)
J.Pickering 3,2,0,1',1=7+1 (5)
J.Hook XD,0,0,TS,RS=0 (3)
J.Edwards 1,2,1,2,1,1',2=10+1 (7)
.
Ht 1: S.Masters, D.King, J.Edwards, Z.Cook 2-4 2-4 [58.87]
Ht 2: D.Kemp, J.Edwards, N.Ablitt , J.Hook[exc] 4-2 6-6 [59.84]
Ht 3: S.Worrall, B.Cook, M.Castagna, K.Thomson [fell] 5-1 11-7 [awd]
Ht 4: J.Pickering, R.Lawson, J.Edwards, N.Ablitt 2-4 13-11 [59.37]
Ht 5: S.Masters, S.Worrall, B.Cook, J.Hook 3-3 16-14 [59.38]
Ht 6: D.King, J.Pickering, Z.Cook, J.Hook 4-2 20-16 [59.41]
Ht 7: R.Lawson, D.Kemp, K.Thomson, M.Castagna 5-1 25-17 [60.44]
Ht 8: Z.Cook, J.Edwards, M.Castagna, D.Kemp[exc] 3-3 28-20 [awd]
Ht 9: S.Worrall, B.Cook, S.Masters, J.Pickering, J.Hook [Tac Subbed] 5-1 33-21 [59.72]
Ht 10: D.King, M.Castagna, K.Thomson, Z.Cook [rtd] 3-3 36-24 [60.5]
Ht 11: S.Masters, R.Lawson, J.Edwards, D.Kemp 2-4 38-28 [59.88]
Ht 12: S.Worrall, K.Thomson, J.Edwards, N.Ablitt 3-3 41-31 [60.82]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, S.Masters, J.Pickering, D.King 3-3 44-34 [60.62]
Ht 14: B.Cook, J.Edwards, M.Castagna, D.Kemp 3-3 47-37 [61.53]
Ht 15: S.Masters, S.Worrall, J.Pickering, R.Lawson 2-4 49-41 []
REFEREE: Christine Turnbull
EDINBURGH won toss and chose gates 1&3 | POOLE choose gates 1&3 in heat 15
League Points: POOLE 3 EDINBURGH 0