REPORT: BSN FINAL FIRST LEG: Poole Pirates v Glasgow Tigers

Returning to track action for the first time since suffering their only defeat of the season to-date, the Wessex Marine Pirates were determined to put on a first leg BSN final performance to be proud of, sufficiently strong enough to give them something to defend when they visit Glasgow on the 21st.

Newly appointed number one Richard Lawson, immediately carded a race win and with Anders Rowe holding on from late pressure applied by Chris Harris, the Pirates had the dream start. A hasty change of bikes by Lee Complin ahead of heat two was required, with the time allowance already having consumed half of its limit, but he managed to make it to tapes although was clearly not happy with his machine as he struggled at the back. Well ahead of him, and the two Pirates, was the quick away Ace Pijper, who rode for nearly three laps with Adam Roynon chasing hard, until he spun out on the third turn and did remarkably well to stay upright and complete the distance to share the heat. Ben Cook was the comfortable winner of heat three, a race that saw Claus Vissing and Zach Cook trade places around the pits turn on laps two and three, with the telling pass coming from the Australian to make it another 5-1 for the brothers. Without the target of number one on his back, Steve Worrall looked much fresher and won the battle of the first turn against Ben Basso. Roynon was comfortably third as Pijper was nowhere near as sharp off the line as he had been in his first ride, and was unable to make any impact. In the first race after the initial track grade there was a need for Zach Cook to be alert to get by Marcin Nowak to collect third place in heat five as the gating Chris Harris was able to pull clear of Ben Cook

There was plenty to follow in heat six as Basso gated and moved out a little too far allowing Lawson to slip into first and leaving room for Rowe to follow. But the Dane fought back quickly to re-establish the advantage, inflicting what was to prove to be Lawson's only defeat of the night. Third place Tom Brennan hit a rut on the second circuit of heat seven and took a spectacular fall, from which, thankfully, he was able to walk away, although had to watch the re-run from the pits having been disqualified. In the re-run, Newman was enjoying life in second place having edged by Vissing but then drifted close to where Brennan had earlier fallen and Vissing seized his chance and nearly passed leader Worrall, but the rejuvenated Poole skipper was canny enough to see him off. Pijper produced a startling gate in heat eight but Rowe was good enough to pick him off within the first lap. Roynon tried hard but never quite found himself close enough to make his efforts pay.

The presence of the medical team was required in the crowd, causing heat nine to be delayed nearly forty minutes but once it got under way at 21:16 it saw determination of the highest order from Ben Cook to see off Basso and then to the delight of the crowd Zach worked his way into second to put Poole twice as many head as the Tigers score (36-18). There was solid stuff again from Lawson and Rowe to move that score on to 40-20, with Vissing finishing between them.

Without having scored from his mandatory three rides, Nowak was stood down from heat eleven but replacement Pijper was an 'also ran' as Poole kept the 4-2 scores coming, although this one had the delight of a glimpse of Bomber in full flight as he tried a double pass off the fourth turn of lap one. Whilst he was able to squeeze by Newman he had no room to deny Worrall his third win of the night. It was good to see Brennan back on track and able to continue after that earlier crash but he had to give second best to Ben Cook in heat twelve whilst Roynon continued to keep the duck eggs off the Poole scorecard with a battling third place. Worrall, in second, shrugged off Harris in the early exchanges of heat thirteen and the Pirates delivered a big heat 5-1 to underline their dominance. Then in heat fourteen Zach Cook completed a smart move to take up the lead from Vissing whilst Newman kept the points building going with third place, before the Pirates one and five pair inflicted yet another 5-1 over the Tigers top two to ease Poole through the sixty point barrier, establishing a staggering 34 point first leg lead.

POOLE 62
Richard Lawson 3,2,3,3,2'=13+1 (5)
Anders Rowe 2',1',3,1=7+2 (4)
Ben Cook 3,2,3,3=11 (4)
Zach Cook 2',1',2',3=8+3 (4)
Steve Worrall 3,3,3,2',3=14+1 (5)
Kyle Newman 2,1,1,1=5 (4)
Adam Roynon 1',1,1,1=4+1 (4)
.
GLASGOW 28
Chris Harris 1,3,2,1,0=7 (5)
Marcin Nowak 0,0,0,RS=0 (3)
Tom Brennan 0,FD,2,2=4 (4)
Claus Vissing 1,2,0,2=5 (4)
Ben Basso 2,3,1,0,1=7 (5)
Lee Complin 0,0,0,RS=0 (3)
Ace Pijper 3,0,2,0,F,0=5 (6)
.
Ht 1:  R.Lawson, A.Rowe, C.Harris, M.Nowak 5-1 5-1 [58.87]
Ht 2:  A.Pijper, K.Newman, A.Roynon, L.Complin 3-3 8-4 [61]
Ht 3:  B.Cook, Z.Cook, C.Vissing, T.Brennan 5-1 13-5 [59.41]
Ht 4:  S.Worrall, B.Basso, A.Roynon, A.Pijper 4-2 17-7 [60]
Ht 5:  C.Harris, B.Cook, Z.Cook, M.Nowak 3-3 20-10 [58.63]
Ht 6:  B.Basso, R.Lawson, A.Rowe, L.Complin 3-3 23-13 [59.66]
Ht 7:  S.Worrall, C.Vissing, K.Newman, T.Brennan [fell exc] 4-2 27-15 [60.56]
Ht 8:  A.Rowe, A.Pijper, A.Roynon, M.Nowak 4-2 31-17 [61.22]
Ht 9:  B.Cook, Z.Cook, B.Basso, L.Complin 5-1 36-18 [59.85]
Ht 10:  R.Lawson, T.Brennan, A.Rowe, C.Vissing 4-2 40-20 [60.82]
Ht 11:  S.Worrall, C.Harris, K.Newman, A.Pijper 4-2 44-22 [61.03]
Ht 12:  B.Cook, T.Brennan, A.Roynon, A.Pijper [fell] 4-2 48-24 [60.84]
Ht 13:  R.Lawson, S.Worrall, C.Harris, B.Basso 5-1 53-25 [61.06]
Ht 14:  Z.Cook, C.Vissing, K.Newman, A.Pijper 4-2 57-27 [61.38]
Ht 15:  S.Worrall, R.Lawson, B.Basso, C.Harris 5-1 62-28 []
photos Anthony Burchall