REPORT: GRAND FINAL 2022 - POOLE v LEICESTER 1st Leg

The Pirates fought back from a ten point deficit to build an eight point cushion to take with them on Saturday to Beaumont Park

With the British weather conspiring against the Pirates' wishes to have a track prepared just the way they wanted, this much awaited first leg rapidly seemed to be going against the defending champions. 

The 2019 Championship winners, Leicester, arrived at the stadium having to use an emergency guest team manager after Stewart Dickson, one of the finest motivators in the game had been admitted to hospital just twenty four hours earlier. Garry May fitted the bill well and the manner in which the Lions started it looked as if May might be able get one over his local club, but as so often has happened with this Poole side, there was a twist waiting late on in the meeting.

Poole got off to a bad start as both Nick Morris and Connor Mountain found passages round Danny King before the Poole skipper took an awkward, and painful, fall into the third turn fence, his ribs being jarred by his handlebars. Ben Cook couldn't quite drill his way under Mountain in the restart and the Lions looked set to open with a huge 5-1 until Cook found another gear and blitzed round Mountain taking second place off the final turn, a vital pass that had the Poole fans instantly on their feet. His brother Zach picked off Joe Thompson in heat two whilst Nathan Ablitt proved unmovable back in third allowing the Pirates to square up the affair. But the Lions were quickly on the prowl again after Drew Kemp found himself all at sea at turn one. Partner Steve  Worrall was trying to hold off guest Scott Nicholls when his brother, Richie, nipped up the inside and into a lead, Nicholls then pulled away and Leicester banked the first maximum heat of the tie. Richard Lawson, dubbed the Rocket Man resembled more of one of those old-fashioned 'Jumping Jack' fireworks as he snaked from the gate, but he recovered well and by the fourth turn was heading the field and setting up a shared heat at the expense of the Thompson boys. 

The  Lions pair roared from the tapes in heat five and this time there was no Cook-like performance from either Kemp or Worrall to prevent them from doubling their lead (11-19), but Poole looked to have the reply as Ben Cook and King both made good gates, a characteristic that had largely been missing within the Poole camp, and took control of the heat until disaster struck on lap three when clear leader Cook shed a chain, the Lions benefitting from a shared heat rather than the Pirates collecting what would have been their maiden 5-1 of the meeting. Nicholls was proving to be a more than adequate cover for the suspended Kyle Howarth, who was serving a mandatory stand down after illness forced him to miss Sheffield's meeting earlier in the week. Dominating from the front Nicholls was setting up his second unbeaten ride and it needed a good pass early doors by Zach Cook to mitigate the damage for Lawson was trying everything he could muster at the back, a position he has rarely finished in at Wimborne Road this season, but never able to make the move on Richie Worrall. So the gap widened to ten and so it was that point of the meeting when it necessitated the Cook boys being brought together and they responded well, yet again, although Zach had found himself trading places with Joe Thompson, before Mountain tried to join in the action, but clipped his partner causing him to fall from whence the race was awarded in Poole's favour.

Steve Worrall and Kemp both looked much sharper in heat nine and they conspired to give Poole another maximum, reducing that deficit to just two points . For a short while in heat ten it looked as if there was a 5-1 treble on the cards as King and Cook were together, ahead yet again, but through came Worrall and then Nicholls made a hard but fair move on Cook on the second lap effectively ending the challenge from the Poole man. 

Heat eleven was instantly stopped when Morris left no room for his partner Mountain at the first turn, but referee Mick Bates saw it as an unsatisfactory start and ruled all four riders eligible for the re-start. In that, Zach Cook's run round the pit turn was arrested with Mountain blocking the way but at least Lawson had cleanly seen off Morris to bank the win .  For best part of three laps of heat twelve it looked as though the meeting would go into the final three heats all square as Ablitt was holding out Joe Thompson, but then the Lions' switch found him a line round the outside, that Ablitt wasn't expecting, which allowed the Lions to share the heat and protect the visitors lead. Lawson made a terrific start to heat thirteen and King, despite still feeling the effects of that early meeting fall,  dug deep to slip inside Morris and then hold off the response. Both riders hit  a rut on the fourth turn, both able to bounce through it and hold their respective positions, so Poole banked the maximum heat score and found themselves ahead for the first time in the meeting. Zach Cook pulled off a big ride in heat fourteen as he managed to hold off every move that Nicholls made on him whilst back in third Kemp was turning the result of the heat into an advantage for Poole and a four point lead. That was converted into an eight point cushion to take with them on Saturday, when Lawson and Steve Worrall left Nicholls and Richie Worrall trailing some distance by the time the chequered flag was dropped. 

The Pirates had manufactured an incredible eighteen point swing across the final eight heats of this first leg, a margin that many Poole fans around the stadium couldn't even dream off about an hour earlier!

POOLE 49
Danny King,FD,3,3,2'=8+1 (4)
Ben Cook,2,R,3,0=5 (4)
Steve Worrall,1,0,3,3,2'=9+1 (5)
Drew Kemp,0,1,2',1=4+1 (4)
Richard Lawson,3,0,3,3,3=12 (5)
Zach Cook,3,2,2',0,3=10+1 (5)
Nathan Ablitt,1,0,RS,0=1 (3)
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LEICESTER 41
Nick Morris,3,3,2,1=9 (4)
Connor Mountain,1,2',1,1'=5+2 (4)
Richie Worrall,3,1,2,2,0=8 (5)
Scott Nicholls ,2',3,1',2,1=9+2 (5)
Dan Thompson,1',2,1,0=4+1 (4)
Max Clegg,0,1',0,RS=1+1 (3)
Joe Thompson,2,2,FD,1',0=5+1 (5)
.
Ht 1:  N.Morris, B.Cook, C.Mountain, D.King [fell exc] 2-4 2-4 [61.05]
Ht 2:  Z.Cook, J.Thompson, N.Ablitt, M.Clegg 4-2 6-6 [62.34]
Ht 3:  R.Worrall, S.Nicholls , S.Worrall, D.Kemp 1-5 7-11 [61.82]
Ht 4:  R.Lawson, J.Thompson, D.Thompson, N.Ablitt 3-3 10-14 [61.12]
Ht 5:  N.Morris, C.Mountain, D.Kemp, S.Worrall 1-5 11-19 [61.82]
Ht 6:  D.King, D.Thompson, M.Clegg, B.Cook [rtd] 3-3 14-22 [63.19]
Ht 7:  S.Nicholls , Z.Cook, R.Worrall, R.Lawson 2-4 16-26 [61.85]
Ht 8:  B.Cook, Z.Cook, C.Mountain, J.Thompson [fell exc] 5-1 21-27 [awd]
Ht 9:  S.Worrall, D.Kemp, D.Thompson, M.Clegg 5-1 26-28 [62.34]
Ht 10:  D.King, R.Worrall, S.Nicholls , B.Cook 3-3 29-31 [61.32]
Ht 11:  R.Lawson, N.Morris, C.Mountain, Z.Cook 3-3 32-34 [62.28]
Ht 12:  S.Worrall, R.Worrall, J.Thompson, N.Ablitt 3-3 35-37 [62]
Ht 13:  R.Lawson, D.King, N.Morris, D.Thompson 5-1 40-38 [61.91]
Ht 14:  Z.Cook, S.Nicholls , D.Kemp, J.Thompson 4-2 44-40 [62.38]
Ht 15:  R.Lawson, S.Worrall, S.Nicholls , R.Worrall 5-1 49-41 [62.81]
REFEREE:  Mick Bates 
LEICESTER won toss and chose gates 2&4 | POOLE choose gates 2&4 in heat 15