REPORT:SCUNTHORPE v POOLE - KO CUP FINAL 1ST LEG

15/10/23

The outcome of this meeting could easily have been a four point advantage to the Pirates instead of them facing that margin of deficit, as it was a keenly contested first leg Cup final.

A late heat one charge from Connor Mountain to pass Joe Thompson on the last lap snatched a shared heat away from Poole as Ryan Douglas led home Richard Lawson. A heat later though Joe was not prepared to allow any of his points to go begging as he made a sharp getaway and held poll position throughout, unfortunately though Kyle Newman had been sluggish off the grid and left himself a little too much to do if Poole were to square up. Jake Allen initially squeezed out the Cooks (Ben and Zach) in heat three but a third lap error by Ben allowed his compatriot in for a a third place although referee Michael Breckon had a close call to make as Zach made up a lot of ground on leader Simon Lambert and they crossed the line with very little in it. Steve Worrall worked tirelessly in heat four to try and make some long straights and find an opening on Michael Palm-Toft's lead but he couldn't execute a telling pass and with their third 4-2 advantage in four heats the Scorpions built an early six point lead and being an aggregate tie the Pirates had no option of a tactical substitute to fall back on.

But after Allen was warned for early movement in heat five, Lawson produced the first sub fifty-eight second time (and it was to be the only one of the meeting) to claim a race win and with Newman holding firm despite big pressure from Allen, the Pirates had their first heat gain on the board and took two points off the deficit. There hadn't been any sign of a 5-1 for either side until Worrall and Newman partnered up in heat six but Douglas, who knows every inch of the Eddie Wright Raceway produced a blistering ride to not only break the team riding Pirates but to go by both of them. In hindsight, had one or other of the Poole riders blasted off into the sunset it could well have been another heat gain rather than the second heat share of the meeting. Heat seven witnessed a comfortable win whilst Ben battled well into third place behind Palm-Toft as the margin between the sides shrunk to two. Hardly time to catch his breath, Zach made it two on the bounce but Thompson, who had looked a bit unsettled at the tapes, couldn't find a decent start this time and so the heat was drawn. Heat nine was frantic and Poole helped a little by Lambert clipped the backstraight fence on the second lap which briefly sent him out of contention. But his partner, Allen, was able to steadily pull clear of Worrall and again it was sheer determination from Newman to stand firm against a recovering Lambert to ensure Poole didn't lose out.

After a lengthy track makeover Ben Cook was able to get the better of Douglas which meant Zach's third place levelled the meeting with five heats of the first leg remaining. Kemp proved to be a Poole nemesis again and stormed off to an easy win. Behind him Newman did well to see of Palm-Toft but the Poole reserve had no answer to a last lap blast from the Dane which sent Scunthorpe back ahead (34-32). Another Kemp win followed, although this time he had Ben Cook in close company. Newman, rearing at the start, still managed to get ahead of Lambert but the home skipper dug deep and managed to rescue a third place to double Scunthorpe's advantage.

At times there was barely the thickness of a cigarette-paper between all four riders in heat thirteen with ample positional changes taking place. By the final analysis Lawson had held on against Douglas and Palm-Toft denied Worrall a point. A telling pass by Zach Cook on Allen and a third place from Thompson over Nathan Ablitt meant Poole were a heat advantage away from avoiding defeat with just two points between the sides, but Douglas, under pressure from Zach, signed off his Eddie Wright raceway Championship career with another win and Lawson was caught out by Palm-Toft to make the half time score 47-43 in Scunthorpe's favour.

SCUNTHORPE 47
Ryan Douglas 3,3,2,2,3=13 (5)
Connor Mountain 1,0,2,0=3 (4)
Simon Lambert 3,2,0,1=6 (4)
Jake Allen 1,0,3,2=6 (4)
Michael Palm-Toft 3,2,1,1',1=8+1 (5)
Nathan Ablitt 1',0,RS,0=1+1 (3)
Drew Kemp 2,1,1',3,3=10+1 (5)
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POOLE 43
Richard Lawson 2,3,2,3,0=10 (5)
Rider Replacement
Ben Cook 0,1,3,2=6 (4)
Zach Cook 2,3,3,1,3,2=14 (6)
Steve Worrall 2,2,2,0=6 (4)
Kyle Newman 0,1,1',1',0,0=3+2 (6)
Joe Thompson 0,3,0,0,1=4 (5)
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Ht 1: R.Douglas, R.Lawson, C.Mountain, J.Thompson 4-2 4-2 [58.33]
Ht 2: J.Thompson, D.Kemp, N.Ablitt, K.Newman 3-3 7-5 [59.36]
Ht 3: S.Lambert, Z.Cook, J.Allen, B.Cook 4-2 11-7 [58.23]
Ht 4: M.Palm-Toft, S.Worrall, D.Kemp, J.Thompson 4-2 15-9 [58.2]
Ht 5: R.Lawson, S.Lambert, K.Newman, J.Allen 2-4 17-13 [57.9]
Ht 6: R.Douglas, S.Worrall, K.Newman, C.Mountain 3-3 20-16 [58.84]
Ht 7: Z.Cook, M.Palm-Toft, B.Cook, N.Ablitt 2-4 22-20 [57.85]
Ht 8: Z.Cook, C.Mountain, D.Kemp, J.Thompson 3-3 25-23 [58.37]
Ht 9: J.Allen, S.Worrall, K.Newman, S.Lambert 3-3 28-26 [58.36]
Ht 10: B.Cook, R.Douglas, Z.Cook, C.Mountain 2-4 30-30 [60.3]
Ht 11: D.Kemp, R.Lawson, M.Palm-Toft, K.Newman 4-2 34-32 [59.94]
Ht 12: D.Kemp, B.Cook, S.Lambert, K.Newman 4-2 38-34 [59.72]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, R.Douglas, M.Palm-Toft, S.Worrall 3-3 41-37 [59.18]
Ht 14: Z.Cook, J.Allen, J.Thompson, N.Ablitt 2-4 43-41 [58.45]
Ht 15: R.Douglas, Z.Cook, M.Palm-Toft, R.Lawson 4-2 47-43 []