REPORT: Poole Pirates 64 Plymouth Gladiators 26

The previous night's meeting, at Plymouth, certainly went to the wire but there was little chance of that happening in this return fixture as the 'Wessex Marine' Pirates seemed ultra-determined to show stand-in team manager, club owner Matt Ford exactly what they are capable of.

There was an early incident in heat one, when a tight entry to the first turn left Anders Rowe squeezed out by both Gladiators, with the referee determining an all-four back ruling due to an unsatisfactory start. There was no doubting Poole's intent in the re-start, Steve Worrall ending his nine-ride run without a victory, with Rowe ably supporting. It was a similar outcome in heats two and three, as the Pirates galloped into a 15-3 lead.

With back-to-back race wins Richie Worrall restored some pride for the Gladiators but not before staving off a clever move from Richard Lawson on the pit turn in heat four who was planning a wide outside run. Richie Worrall's win sequence was ended by brother Steve in heat six, after Richie had been warned for initial anticipation, whilst Rowe's passing of Turner was not the cleanest, clipping the Kiwi as he went by. Lawson was on the gas again in heat seven, this time with fresh air ahead of him, but catching the eye was Newman's move as he executed a splendid inside pass on both Ben Barker and Dan Gilkes to start those 5-1's up again, Rowe and Roynon doing likewise in heat eight.

After pushing R.Worrall hard at turn one, Zach Cook slipped to the rear before hastily regaining third place with a pass on Turner, who on the final lap took a fall, awarding the result as 4-2 to the Pirates making it a certainty of all three league points on offer should the Pirates just return a finisher in each of the remaining six heats.

Arguably, against the run of play Barker and Gilkes produced Plymouth's first heat advantage, a big one too as the hitherto unbeaten Steve Worrall couldn't make an impact this time around. But it was a false dawn for the visitors as Newman produced a great ride to drive by Howarth and continue to fend him off in heat eleven as Lawson led, the 5-1 response putting the meeting totally out of reach of Plymouth. Ben Cook set the pace in heat twelve and, securing his second best performance of the season for Poole, Roynon slipped neatly into third as he exited the pit turn on the opening lap. Howarth showed keenness in heat thirteen, too much though as he decimated the tapes, putting himself on a fifteen metre handicap. Steve won the first turn battle of the Worrall's as Lawson went on the wide run to take up the initiative and that began the symmetry of the meeting as the Pirates matched their opening three heat maximum with a matching closing sequence.

POOLE 64
Steve Worrall 3,3,1,2'=9+1 (4)
Anders Rowe 2',1,3,0=6+1 (4)
Ben Cook 3,2,3,3,3=14 (5)
Zach Cook 2',1',1,3=7+2 (4)
Richard Lawson 2,3,3,3,2'=13+1 (5)
Kyle Newman 2',2',2',2'=8+4 (4)
Adam Roynon 3,1',2',1=7+2 (4)
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PLYMOUTH 26
Kyle Howarth 1,0,1,0EH=2 (4)
Ben Morley R,TS,1,0=1 (3)
Ben Barker 0,1,3,2,0=6 (5)
Dan Gilkes 1,0,2',1=4+1 (4)
Richie Worrall 3,3,2,2,1,1=12 (6)
Jake Turner 0,0,FD,R=1 (4)
Ben Trigger 1,0,0,0=0 (4)
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Ht 1:  S.Worrall, A.Rowe, K.Howarth, B.Morley [rtd] 5-1 5-1 [58.88]
Ht 2:  A.Roynon, K.Newman, B.Trigger, J.Turner 5-1 10-2 [60.75]
Ht 3:  B.Cook, Z.Cook, D.Gilkes, B.Barker 5-1 15-3 [58.85]
Ht 4:  R.Worrall, R.Lawson, A.Roynon, B.Trigger 3-3 18-6 [59.9]
Ht 5:  R.Worrall, B.Cook, Z.Cook, K.Howarth, B.Morley [Tac Subbed] 3-3 21-9 [58.72]
Ht 6:  S.Worrall, R.Worrall, A.Rowe, J.Turner 4-2 25-11 [60.1]
Ht 7:  R.Lawson, K.Newman, B.Barker, D.Gilkes 5-1 30-12 [59.53]
Ht 8:  A.Rowe, A.Roynon, B.Morley, B.Trigger 5-1 35-13 [61.1]
Ht 9:  B.Cook, R.Worrall, Z.Cook, J.Turner [fell exc] 4-2 39-15 [awd]
Ht 10:  B.Barker, D.Gilkes, S.Worrall, A.Rowe 1-5 40-20 [60.46]
Ht 11:  R.Lawson, K.Newman, K.Howarth, B.Morley 5-1 45-21 [60.81]
Ht 12:  B.Cook, B.Barker, A.Roynon, J.Turner [rtd] 4-2 49-23 [59.9]
Ht 13:  R.Lawson, S.Worrall, R.Worrall, K.Howarth[15m handicap] 5-1 54-24 [61.08]
Ht 14:  Z.Cook, K.Newman, D.Gilkes, B.Trigger 5-1 59-25 [60.56]
Ht 15:  B.Cook, R.Lawson, R.Worrall, B.Barker 5-1 64-26 [60.22]

SCB REFEREE: Ms BARBARA HORLEY 
POOLE won toss and chose gates 2&4 | PLYMOUTH choose gates 1&3 in heat 15  
League Points: POOLE 3 PLYMOUTH 0
 

Photos courtesy and copyright Tony Hartmann