REPORT: POOLE v PLYMOUTH - PIRATES EDGING TOWARDS THE PLAY OFF SEMIS

14/09/22

An emphatic first leg performance from the Pirates has put them in the driving seat, as they will head to Devon on Tuesday nursing a 30 point lead after completing the first fifteen heats of this tie without conceding a heat.

Through the early phases of this meeting there were indications as the Pirates might end up ruing a sequence of squandered points, and few could have foreseen a score of sixty being amassed, but suddenly the ruthless Pirates kicked in and the visitors were struggling to live up to their title of Gladiators.

Ben Cook made a terrific start to boost the Pirates in the opening heat, a rare heat one appearance for the second term Pirate, but his association with skipper Danny King has proved to be a solid pairing and so keeping them together was a sensible strategy from the Poole management. Coming out of the first turn in heat two it was two Pirates who featured more prominently but Plymouth's late season acquisition, Lee Complin, showed some true ruthlessness and had Nathan Ablitt looking for the brakes down the back straight. It was move that was enough to relegate the Poole reserve to the back, but Zach Cook had the heat win under his belt thus limiting the heat to a shared one. Steve Worrall and Drew Kemp were on the pace in heat three but Aaron Summers put himself between the pair, forcing Kemp to give way, but at least this time Poole were able to add, slightly, to their lead. Richard Lawson made a great move at the start of heat four to get across Hans Andersen in the chase to the first turn from whence Ablitt came out in third place. But with Complin showing a bit of wildness about him managed to plug away from the back and eventually caught Ablitt to share the heat. Kemp squandered more points in heat five as he conceded his second place behind Worrall to both the visiting guests - Summers and Leon Flint and whilst the Pirates had a lead of six, it so easily could have been double that margin.

King showed his true steel as he squeezed by Andersen in heat six, a move that Ben Cook might have tried earlier than he did, preferring to spend time trying to find a telling inside pass. In the end, Andersen held firm for second and Poole had to be content with adding another two points to their lead, moving the scores on to 22-14. Zach Cook threw everything into his attempt to go round Ben Morley in heat seven, but it proved costly as it opened the door for Summers to exploit and a fourth shared heat in seven was chalked up. Changes from both sides in heat eight, saw their respective number sixes, Zach Cook and Lee Complin, replace their sevens (Ablitt and Connor Coles) drafted in , but the change had Zach needing to borrow a machine from Steve Worrall, and whilst he did well in third to hold Complin at bay, all eyes were on Ben as he was working a brilliant route by Flint for the Pirates' third 4-2 gain. A determined ride by Worrall to shrug off the keen interests of Andersen set him up to keep his unbeaten run going and with Kemp holding his position in third the Pirates were able to slowly keep the lead ticking along upwards. Ben Cook had an awkward moment as he lifted on the approach to turn one in heat ten, but he quickly responded to get things under control and he and King came through that opening bend for a comprehensive 5-1, their second of the night, which triggered some acceleration by the Pirates.

Lawson was uncompromising in his move to pass Andersen in heat eleven and a third place from Zach Cook made the heat score 4-2 and meeting score 42-24. Then came a moment that had the Poole fans on their feet. Jetting out of gate four and riding an excellent route around the first turn, Nathan Ablitt passed both Morley and Complin and settled in comfortably for a second place support to Worrall's fourth win. The other two unbeaten Pirates, Lawson and King, then paired up in heat thirteen and both kept their record intact, Lawson taking the flag and King the bonus point, with Andersen and Flint never close enough to mount any pressure. Heat fourteen looked set for a third-in-row maximum score for the Pirates but somehow Summers found an opening to give the visitors their only race winner, the Pirates pair of Worrall and Lawson then completing their maximums with a closing 5-1 to give Poole thirty points to defend when they visit the Coliseum - a margin that should be large enough to see them through to the semi-finals .

Poole 60
Danny King,2',3,3,2'=10+2 (4)
Ben Cook,3,1,3,2'=9+1 (4)
Steve Worrall,3,3,3,3,3=15 (5)
Drew Kemp,1,0,1,1'=3+1 (4)
Richard Lawson,3,3,3,3,2'=14+1 (5)
Zach Cook,3,0,1,1,2=7 (5)
Nathan Ablitt,0,0,RS,2'=2+1 (3)
.
Plymouth 30
Rider Replacement
Leon Flint,1,1',2,R,0=4+1 (5)
Ben Morley,0,0,2,1,1=4 (5)
Aaron Summers,2,2,1',0,3,0=8+1 (6)
Hans Andersen,2,2,2,2,1,1=10 (6)
Lee Complin,2,1',RS,0,0,0=3+1 (5)
Connor Coles,1',RS,0,RS,0=1+1 (3)
Ben Trigger= ()
Ht 1: B.Cook, D.King, L.Flint, B.Morley 5-1 5-1 [59.4]
Ht 2: Z.Cook, L.Complin, C.Coles, N.Ablitt 3-3 8-4 [60.38]
Ht 3: S.Worrall, A.Summers, D.Kemp, B.Morley 4-2 12-6 [60.44]
Ht 4: R.Lawson, H.Andersen, L.Complin, N.Ablitt 3-3 15-9 [60.84]
Ht 5: S.Worrall, A.Summers, L.Flint, D.Kemp 3-3 18-12 [59.81]
Ht 6: D.King, H.Andersen, B.Cook, C.Coles 4-2 22-14 [60.13]
Ht 7: R.Lawson, B.Morley, A.Summers, Z.Cook 3-3 25-17 [62.34]
Ht 8: B.Cook, L.Flint, Z.Cook, L.Complin 4-2 29-19 [60.85]
Ht 9: S.Worrall, H.Andersen, D.Kemp, L.Complin 4-2 33-21 [61.13]
Ht 10: D.King, B.Cook, B.Morley, A.Summers 5-1 38-22 [60.97]
Ht 11: R.Lawson, H.Andersen, Z.Cook, L.Flint [rtd] 4-2 42-24 [60.9]
Ht 12: S.Worrall, N.Ablitt, B.Morley, L.Complin 5-1 47-25 [59.91]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, D.King, H.Andersen, L.Flint 5-1 52-26 [60.28]
Ht 14: A.Summers, Z.Cook, D.Kemp, C.Coles 3-3 55-29 [61.5]
Ht 15: S.Worrall, R.Lawson, H.Andersen, A.Summers 5-1 60-30 [61.66]
REFEREE: Dave Watters
Plymouth won toss and chose gates 1&3 | Poole choose gates 2&4 in heat 15