Report Edinburgh Monarchs v Poole Pirates

29/09/23

With a place waiting for the Pirates in the Grand Final, the outcome of this final meeting of the season at Armadale (and maybe ever) was not critical, but Pirates Pride doesn't work like that and there was an intense desire to maintain their unbeaten run since July 30th and sign off the play-off group fixtures with a hundred per cent points record.

Advantages in each of the opening gambit of three heats set the Pirates on their way, Newman backing Lawson up well in heat one before having to work hard to stave off pressure from Bastian Borke in heat two, which had gone to a re-run after Dayle Wood had been disqualified following a fall. Zach Cook produced a good pass on 'Paco' Castagna to set the heat three advantage up and give Poole a 13-5 early lead.
Two of that deficit were clawed back by the Monarchs when Josh Pickering made the early running and Borke managed to find away by the sharp gating Joe Thompson as skipper Steve Worrall was struggling at the rear. Castagna gave the home fans more to appreciate with a good gate in heat five but Lawson second and, crucially, a stubborn Joe Thompson, after a trading of places with Kye Thomson which concluded with a dash for the flag, managed to seal third place to share the points and leave Kye Thomson still seeking his first score.

It was a different Steve Worrall in heat six and with Newman remaining firm under Castagna's pressure Poole extended their lead to a handsome eight points and with Josh Pickering committing a tapes offence in heat seven and being sent off a handicap there was anticipation in the Poole camp that there was an opening to stretch their lead further. But Pickering had other ideas and he soon picked off Ben Cook by the final turn of the opening lap then made it by Zach on the following lap, but with Wood having fallen on the first turn second time around, at least the points were shared and the lead maintained. Lasse Fredriksen suffered a heavy first bend fall in heat seven and needed a bit of time to shake off the ill-effects but Zach Cook was in no mood to hang around and stormed to his second win of the night. Joe Thompson was working hard to try and make it a heat gain but an error on the final turn allowed Borke to become the second Monarch to pass him in the heat and again a share of the spoils was all that came from the outcome.

Another clean pair of heels from Worrall in heat nine but Newman found himself struggling and when Thomson passed him off the second bend he invested much hard effort all the way but was unable to make up any ground. He hardly had any time to contemplate what the issues were as he was suddenly thrown into heat ten to cover for Ben Cook who had suffered a chain problem on the way to tapes and found himself disqualified under the time frame. But Newman rose to the task and was tucked in with Zach Cook on a potential 5-1 when Zach suffered problems on the second lap and ground to a halt. Newman was left then a bit exposed under the charge from tactical substitute Pickering who went round him on lap three to give the Monarchs their second heat advantage of the meeting.
Pickering did the work from the gate in heat eleven, out manoeuvring Lawson who then had Borke go by him. But the Edinburgh reserve couldn't hold position and soon found himself in trouble and at the rear, although somehow he did recover sufficiently to keep Thompson honest over the final lap but the heat share made the scores 30-36 in favour of Poole.

More pre-start problems rose their head for Ben Cook and with the first bike available being that of Steve Worrall he jumped aboard with seconds left on the clock. Newman made a great start but had Borke behind him all the way trying to outwit him and although Ben did manage to get into a scoring position momentarily he was clearly battling against the strange bike and lost out to Thomson. The chase for the win was close with Newman just holding on for a vital victory that kept Poole with a six point lead. A position that was soon to change as Worrall and Lawson combined for a 5-1 not before Pickering had given Lawson a run for his money. Although that maximum heat score had secured the win, a reserve switch was forthcoming with Newman deputising for Thompson, a move that worked perfectly as Newman shot by Castagna to join leader Zach Cook for another 5-1 return before Worrall and Lawson made it a perfect three-heat finish with solid team riding to again deny Pickering and secure Poole's biggest away play-off score to-date!

Edinburgh 36
Rider Replacement
Lasse Fredriksen 0,0,2,1=3 (4)
Kye Thomson 0,0,2,1',0=3+1 (5)
Michele Castagna 2,3,1,1',1=8+1 (5)
Josh Pickering 1,3,3EH,3,3,1,1=15 (7)
Dayle Wood FD,F,0,=0 (3)
Bastian Borke 2,2',1',0,2,0=7+2 (5)
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POOLE 54
Richard Lawson 3,2,2,2',2'=11+2 (5)
Rider Replacement
Ben Cook 1,1',N2,0=2+1 (3)
Zach Cook 3,2,3,R,3=11 (5)
Steve Worrall 0,3,3,3,3=12 (5)
Kyle Newman 2',3,2',0,2,3,2'=14+3 (7)
Joe Thompson 1,1,1',0,1',RS=4+2 (5)
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Ht 1: R.Lawson, K.Newman, J.Pickering, L.Fredriksen 1-5 1-5 [56.5]
Ht 2: K.Newman, B.Borke, J.Thompson, D.Wood [fell exc] 2-4 3-9 [58]
Ht 3: Z.Cook, M.Castagna, B.Cook, K.Thomson 2-4 5-13 [57.9]
Ht 4: J.Pickering, B.Borke, J.Thompson, S.Worrall 5-1 10-14 [57.6]
Ht 5: M.Castagna, R.Lawson, J.Thompson, K.Thomson 3-3 13-17 [57.7]
Ht 6: S.Worrall, K.Newman, M.Castagna, L.Fredriksen 1-5 14-22 [58.6]
Ht 7: J.Pickering[15m handicap], Z.Cook, B.Cook, D.Wood [fell] 3-3 17-25 [69]
Ht 8: Z.Cook, L.Fredriksen, B.Borke, J.Thompson 3-3 20-28 [59.56]
Ht 9: S.Worrall, K.Thomson, M.Castagna, K.Newman 3-3 23-31 [59.7]
Ht 10: J.Pickering, K.Newman, L.Fredriksen, Z.Cook 4-2 27-33 [60.9]
Ht 11: J.Pickering, R.Lawson, J.Thompson, B.Borke 3-3 30-36 [59.7]
Ht 12: K.Newman, B.Borke, K.Thomson, B.Cook 3-3 33-39 [60.8]
Ht 13: S.Worrall, R.Lawson, J.Pickering, K.Thomson 1-5 34-44 [60.2]
Ht 14: Z.Cook, K.Newman, M.Castagna, D.Wood 1-5 35-49 [60.2]
Ht 15: S.Worrall, R.Lawson, J.Pickering, B.Borke 1-5 36-54 [60]