REPORT: Plymouth Gladiators v Poole Pirates KOC Q/F 2nd Leg

12/05/23

Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates made no mistakes as they successfully defended their first leg advantage and took victory at the Coliseum to progress to the semi-finals with an aggregate 105-75 victory

An age for Gladiators skipper Kyle Howarth to decide gate positions after winning the coin toss followed by an impromptu track inspection by referee Wayne Jarvis, the two captains and the clerk of the course, served only to delay this re-arranged cup fixture further. 

Once racing did get underway, just around 7.15pm, it was Howarth who fared the better of the four riders, all of who seemed to struggle on a choppy circuit.  Reserve Jake Turner attempted an early get-away in the reserves heat, but it only ended in him charging the tapes and having to go back fifteen metres. Both Kyle Newman and Adam Roynon were able to see off Ben Trigger on the first turn but again their riders were far from smooth and more often than not were just free-wheeling into the turns. Turner took a heavy fall on the second lap and although he managed to drag his bike off the circuit he did sustain a knee injury that was to rule him out of the rest of the meeting. 

At this stage some track remedies were undertaken and it worked wonders for Ben Cook who produced a great ride and in a quick time to win heat three as he dived under Ben Barker and made the move stick. Heat four saw Richard Lawson just unable to get his wheels in line first as he and Richie Worrall ventured into the back straight, and that allowed the Gladiator to pull clear. Roynon had third place in his grasp but then dropped it round the first turn mid-race. Although he remounted the chase was over and he pulled up without attempting the fourth circuit. The track was rapidly settling down in to a rideable circuit, as Barker proved by storming to a new track record of 49.19 seconds. Steve Worrall was able to split the Gladiators duo, the resulting 4-2 enabling the home side to level up proceedings on the night and still facing the task of making up eighteen points. 

A second win of the night came for heat six victor Howarth as he pulled clear of Lawson. Newman applied plenty of pressure on Dan Gilkes but couldn't make an opening and Plymouth, for the first time moved ahead. Plenty of drama was packed into heat seven. First Trigger had bike problems at the start and needed to rapidly switch to Barker's machine, the one that had just roared to a track record. Zach Cook gated well and pulled clear of Richie Worrall who on the second lap lifted badly and just managed to avoid a visit to the fence. Behind those two were Ben Cook, nursing a very reluctant motor but Trigger couldn't adapt to the borrowed machine sufficiently to present any major threat, and somehow Ben Cook managed to get a full four laps from the troubled bike and share the heat. Anders Rowe produced a good fightback, necessitated because after a good gate he found himself back in the third place in heat eight. A second lap fall by Roynon made Rowe's progress back into second place all that more important, as it only allowed the home side to gain a two point lead. 

Once again though the advantage was wiped out in a re-started heat nine, stopped initially because of a self-deflating air fence around the first bend. Eventually action resumed with Barker far too eager and picking up a warning for his jumping. Third time of asking Lawson was to get ahead but had to be wary of the wide seeking Barker throughout. Newman was not far off in third place, doing enough to stave off the interests of Paul Starke. 

Clever team riding by the Cook brothers squeezed Howarth out of the points in heat ten as Gilkes proved to be the surprise winner. Steve Worrall made a good heat eleven move to push his brother out wide enough allowing Anders to slip into second place and confirm a semi-final spot for the Pirates, but Poole wanted more, as Ben Cook and Newman demonstrated in heat twelve with a maximum over Starke and Trigger. Howarth came close to wiping out Steve Worrall with a reckless dive off turn two in heat thirteen but the Poole skipper stood up to it to take the win that retained Poole's eight point advantage on the night. Heat fourteen saw Barker rear at the tapes, allowing Zach Cook to build on his sharp start and whilst Barker threw everything at him, Zach was resolute and with Roynon managing to stay aboard back in third Poole further extended their lead just as Worrall and Ben Cook did in the nominated to give themselves a thirty point aggregate quarter final victory.

Heat Details

Plymouth 39
Kyle Howarth 3,3,0,2,0=8 (5)
Dan Gilkes 0,1,3,3=7 (4)
Paul Starke 1',1,0,1=3+1 (4)
Ben Barker 2,3,2,2,2=11 (5)
Richie Worrall 3,2,1,1'=7+1 (4)
Jake Turner F,NS,NS,NS=0 (1)
Ben Trigger 1,1,0,1,0,0,0=3 (7)
.
Poole 51
Steve Worrall 1',2,3,3,3=12+1 (5)
Anders Rowe 2,0,2,2'=6+1 (4)
Ben Cook 3,1,2,3,1=10 (5)
Zach Cook 0,3,1',3=7+1 (4)
Richard Lawson 2,2,3,0=7 (4)
Kyle Newman 2',0,1,2'=5+2 (4)
Adam Roynon 3,R,F,1=4 (4)
.
Ht 1:  K.Howarth, A.Rowe, S.Worrall, D.Gilkes 3-3 3-3 [50.1]
Ht 2:  A.Roynon, K.Newman, B.Trigger, J.Turner [fell] 1-5 4-8 [52.53]
Ht 3:  B.Cook, B.Barker, P.Starke, Z.Cook 3-3 7-11 [50.04]
Ht 4:  R.Worrall, R.Lawson, B.Trigger, A.Roynon [rtd] 4-2 11-13 [50.46]
Ht 5:  B.Barker, S.Worrall, P.Starke, A.Rowe 4-2 15-15 [49.19]
Ht 6:  K.Howarth, R.Lawson, D.Gilkes, K.Newman 4-2 19-17 [51.28]
Ht 7:  Z.Cook, R.Worrall, B.Cook, B.Trigger, J.Turner [NS] 2-4 21-21 [50.87]
Ht 8:  D.Gilkes, A.Rowe, B.Trigger, A.Roynon [fell] 4-2 25-23 [51.81]
Ht 9:  R.Lawson, B.Barker, K.Newman, P.Starke 2-4 27-27 [51.19]
Ht 10:  D.Gilkes, B.Cook, Z.Cook, K.Howarth 3-3 30-30 [51.35]
Ht 11:  S.Worrall, A.Rowe, R.Worrall, B.Trigger, J.Turner [NS] 1-5 31-35 [51.66]
Ht 12:  B.Cook, K.Newman, P.Starke, B.Trigger 1-5 32-40 [51.65]
Ht 13:  S.Worrall, K.Howarth, R.Worrall, R.Lawson 3-3 35-43 [51.19]
Ht 14:  Z.Cook, B.Barker, A.Roynon, B.Trigger, J.Turner [NS] 2-4 37-47 [51.34]
Ht 15:  S.Worrall, B.Barker, B.Cook, K.Howarth 2-4 39-51 [51.41]
REFEREE:  Mr Wayne Jarvis 
Plymouth won toss and chose gates 2&4 | Poole choose gates 1&3 in heat 15