REPORT: Redcar Bears 45 (4) v Poole Pirates 45 (5)

For the partisan fan of a nervous disposition this meeting was a tough one to watch, for the neutral supporter it was an entertaining battle that went down to the wire and beyond.

Richard 'Rocketman' Lawson dropped just one point all night, losing out to his former captain Danny King in heat six, but it was to be the tussle between these two riders that had the outcome of the meeting on a knife edge in the Super Heat, after the meeting scores were all square after the regular programmed heats.

The night began well for the Pirates with skipper Steve Worrall performing a good pass on Danyon Hume, a move that Anders Rowe desperately wanted too but he was just foiled in his attempts by Hume as King struggled. Things looked bright in the early stages of heat two with Kyle Newman the early leader, but Connor Bailey reeled him in on the second lap before, the sensation of the night, Jake Mulford proceeded to take a point off Newman, edging Redcar ahead. Charles Wright stormed through at the end of lap one in the third heat to deny the Cook boys a heat advantage and then we had our first glimpse of the night of Lawson.  Away from the tapes sharply, the Rocketman blasted to an opening win and with Roynon vastly improving on his heat two efforts able to hold back German Erik Riss the Pirates were able to re-level the scores, at twelve apiece. Heat five was done and dusted from the gate as Wright made it two from two, but Worrall and Rowe kept Jason Edwards out of the points.

Newman saved heat six with a pass on Hume as the fans were treated to two races in one, as Lawson tried desperately hard to try and stop a sharper looking King . Heat seven was a super race. Riss passed Ben Cook on the first lap, but as he does so diligently, Ben stuck to the task and was rewarded with a vital and splendid overtake as he came out of the final turn and won the dash to the flag, brother Zach back in third allowing Poole to inch ahead. That advantage was short-lived though as the Bears combination of Hume and Mulford prevailed over Rowe and non-finishing Adam Roynon. That turned the two margin around into Redcar's favour at the halfway stage. Lawson was as fast away as Newman was sluggish in heat nine and the unbeaten Wright had no answers to Lawson. But King and Hume had all the response Redcar needed in heat ten as they benefitted from both Cooks missing the gate, but to their credit they ensured that Hume knew he was in a race as they tried desperately hard to attack him from either side. 

Immediately, team manager Gary Havelock reached for his secret weapon, deploying Lawson as a tactical substitute to partner Worrall, but he had not bargained for the skipper to drive through the tapes to earn his disqualification from heat ten. Rather than send Worrall off a handicap, Havelock turned to Newman as a reserve replacement from scratch and what a ride Kyle gave. He headed Riss for all but the final couple of lengths as Lawson led, leaving Poole with a 4-2 advantage and a four point deficit with four heats remaining. Newman was back on track for heat twelve and Wright rode him out around the first bend, but that move in itself left an open door for Ben Cook to drive through. But then he went out too wide on the third turn allowing Wright to take up the initiative. Cook and Newman looked content to try and settle for a share of the spoils but Mulford had different ideas and he was able to deny Newman and steal a really valuable third place to restore his side's six point advantage. 

Partnered together again Worrall and Lawson made no mistakes in heat thirteen taking full control of the race after the first and second turns. Then Zach Cook gained a tapes to flag heat fourteen victory, Roynon clinging on for third place that returned parity to the scores. Lawson and Worrall were automatic choices for heat fifteen whilst King and Wright were Gavin Parr's obvious selection. But wanting to get out sharply, King went too early and there was a Roy of the Rovers moment for Mulford, who had been sensational, to try and get the Bears over the line. But Lawson had the bit between his teeth and had pushed ahead in an exciting tussle that had the three heat leaders all vying for control. Heading for the final turn though Worrall and Wright came together and the home captain hit the deck. Worrall lost traction too but the red lights came on as Lawson crossed the line and referee Breckon ruled that the Poole skipper had committed an act of unfair riding and awarded the minor placings to the Bears.

Under 2023 rules, a 45-45 result is not the end of the meeting, for it has been decreed every meeting needs a winner (although the sport itself was the winner in this one) and so a 4-3-2-0 scoring Super Heat was called upon. 

It was a re-match of the original line up of heat fifteen (and that of heat thirteen) and this time Wright made all the running with Worrall holding second, so all eyes focused on the tussle between King and Lawson. Determined not to be beaten again by King, Lawson dug in real deep and pulled off a sensational move on the final lap to take that all important third place, for a 5-4 advantage and two more league points to the maximum tally already achieved.
 

REDCAR 45
Danny King 0,3,3,0,XE=6 (5) {+0SH}
Danyon Hume 2,0,3,2'=7+1 (4)
Charles Wright 3,3,2,3,2=13 (5) {+4SH}
Jason Edwards 0,0,1',RS=1+1 (3)
Erik Riss 0,2,2,1=5 (4)
Connor Bailey 3,0,0,2=5 (4)
Jake Mulford 2',2,2',1,0,1'=8+3 (6)
.
POOLE 45
Steve Worrall 3,2,XE,3,XD=8 (5) {+3SH}
Anders Rowe 1,1',1,TS=3+1 (3)
Ben Cook 2,3,1,2=8 (4)
Zach Cook 1',1,0,3=5+1 (4)
Richard Lawson 3,2,3,3,2',3=16+1 (6) {+2'SH}
Kyle Newman 1,1',0,1,0=3+1 (5)
Adam Roynon 0,1,R,1=2 (4)
.

Scores in {} denote points in the heat sixteen "Super Heat"

Ht 1:  S.Worrall, D.Hume, A.Rowe, D.King 2-4 2-4 [53.9]
Ht 2:  C.Bailey, J.Mulford, K.Newman, A.Roynon 5-1 7-5 [54.8]
Ht 3:  C.Wright, B.Cook, Z.Cook, J.Edwards 3-3 10-8 [54.6]
Ht 4:  R.Lawson, J.Mulford, A.Roynon, E.Riss 2-4 12-12 [54.4]
Ht 5:  C.Wright, S.Worrall, A.Rowe, J.Edwards 3-3 15-15 [54.3]
Ht 6:  D.King, R.Lawson, K.Newman, D.Hume 3-3 18-18 [54.6]
Ht 7:  B.Cook, E.Riss, Z.Cook, C.Bailey 2-4 20-22 [55.6]
Ht 8:  D.Hume, J.Mulford, A.Rowe, A.Roynon [rtd] 5-1 25-23 [56.2]
Ht 9:  R.Lawson, C.Wright, J.Edwards, K.Newman 3-3 28-26 [54.6]
Ht 10:  D.King, D.Hume, B.Cook, Z.Cook 5-1 33-27 [55.1]
Ht 11:  R.Lawson, E.Riss, K.Newman, C.Bailey, S.Worrall [tapes exc], A.Rowe [Tac Subbed] 2-4 35-31 [55.7]
Ht 12:  C.Wright, B.Cook, J.Mulford, K.Newman 4-2 39-33 [55.3]
Ht 13:  S.Worrall, R.Lawson, E.Riss, D.King 1-5 40-38 [55.6]
Ht 14:  Z.Cook, C.Bailey, A.Roynon, J.Mulford 2-4 42-42 [56.2]
Ht 15:  R.Lawson, C.Wright, J.Mulford, S.Worrall[exc], D.King [tapes exc] 3-3 45-45 [awd]
Ht 16:   C.Wright, S.Worrall,  R.Lawson, D.King [4-5]
SGB Referee: Mr Michael Breckon
POOLE won toss and deferred choice to heat 15; REDCAR chose gates 1&3 |POOLE choose gates 1&3 in heat 15 
League Points: Redcar 1 Poole 2