REPORT: Poole 61 Oxford 29 - BSN

29/03/24

Blessed with a bumper Good Friday crowd, the newish look Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates opened their campaign with an emphatic home win over the Oxford 'Monarch' Cheetahs, the home side being in total control of the meeting.

Debutant Dane, Tobias Thomsen, made a good gate in the opening race but coming under pressure from a Wimborne Road big-hitter, Sam Masters, he ran a bit too heavy in turn three and had to recover well to ensure third place as Richard Lawson inflicted a rare but comprehensive win over Masters.
Max Perry, in his first competitive ride on the Poole track did exceptionally well to maintain his line, as Ashton Boughen moved ever wider on the first turn. Although the race was taken by Luke Killeen the second and third places from Sam Hagon and Perry, respectively, retained Poole's slight advantage. But Poole boys Tom Brennan and Zach Cook were will in command around the pit turn in heat three and delivered the first maximum heat advantage of Poole's season as Brennan celebrated a winning debut ride. Newly-appointed captain, Ben Cook, had to dig in deep to find a second lap pass on Killeen to ensure the Cheetahs wouldn't instantly counter as Scott Nicholls showed no signs of ageing!
Heat five brought about another maximum for the mid-line-up pairing for the Pirates, this time they both made excellent moves on Masters with Zach Cook going by early on and Brennan gaining lap on lap and able to make his telling pass on the final circuit, to set the score at 19-11.

Lawson was unstoppable in heat six and partner Thomsen pushed Nicholls hard as Poole further extended that lead. The holiday-crowd were treated to a piece of delightful racing in heat seve as Hagon on the outside, and Ben Cook on the inside made simultaneous passes on Cameron Heeps to clock up another maximum for the defending BSN title holders. Wasting no time in earning his second win in Poole colours, Hagon replaced Perry and won heat eight comfortably, whilst Oxford's switch man, Luke Killeen (replacing Boughen) followed home in second as Thomsen notched up his hat-trick of third places.
In an attempt to arrest the slide, as they now trailed 32-16, Oxford drafted in Masters as a tactical substitute to pair with Nicholls, but whilst eyes were needed everywhere as Zach Cook and Nicholls were contesting the front two places, Brennan and Masters were slugging it out for the minor point. In both instances the Pirates prevailed as they continued to average four points per heat! Shaking off his third places, Thomsen worked his way into second in heat ten and then withheld pressure from Jordan Jenkins before celebrating the 5-1 (with Lawson) by performing a donut in front of the enthusiastic grandstand.

Ben Cook was a convincing winner in heat eleven but it had to be a solo effort as Hagon took an early fall but earned the plaudits of the referee for clearing the track quickly, thus allowing the race to continue. A perfectly timed move in heat twelve by Tom Brennan had the home crowd on their feet with his last lap move to storm by long time leader Heeps, giving Poole another heat gain as Perry had ably seen off Boughen again. More brilliance followed in heat thirteen as having duelled with Masters early doors, the unbeaten Lawson got the better of his number one counterpart, the race climaxing with a 'steal-on-the-line' second place from Ben Cook who came through for Poole's fifth maximum score. A sixth one rapidly followed as Hagon, showing no ill-effects from his earlier fall, teamed up with Zach Cook and although Jenkins tried his best to get on level terms the Poole reserve held firm, putting the Pirates in a strong position to breach the sixty-point level. Lawson made that a certainty as he completed his first full maximum for Poole since July 27th 2002 (when he went through the card at Birmingham) and his first unbeaten Wimborne Road performance since the Pirates' knockout cup semi-final 60-30 smashing of Leicester in September 2002.

Poole 61
Richard Lawson 3,3,3,3,3=15 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 1,1,1,2'=5+1 (4)
Tom Brennan 3,2',1,3=9+1 (4)
Zach Cook 2',3,3,3,0=11+1 (5)
Ben Cook 2,2',3,2'=9+2 (4)
Sam Hagon 2,3,3,F,2'=10+1 (5)
Max Perry 1',0,RS,1=2+1 (3)
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OXFORD 29
Sam Masters 2,1,0,1',1,1'=6+2 (6)
Henry Atkins 0,0,0,RS=0 (3)
Cameron Heeps 0,1,0,2=3 (4)
Jordan Jenkins 1,0,1,1=3 (4)
Scott Nicholls 3,2,2,0,2=9 (5)
Luke Killeen 3,1,RS,2,TS,2,RS,0=8 (5)
Ashton Boughen 0,RS,0,RS,0,RS=0 (3)
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Ht 1: R.Lawson, S.Masters, T.Thomsen, H.Atkins 4-2 4-2 [60.25]
Ht 2: L.Killeen, S.Hagon, M.Perry, A.Boughen 3-3 7-5 [61.6]
Ht 3: T.Brennan, Z.Cook, J.Jenkins, C.Heeps 5-1 12-6 [60.53]
Ht 4: S.Nicholls, B.Cook, L.Killeen, M.Perry 2-4 14-10 [61.69]
Ht 5: Z.Cook, T.Brennan, S.Masters, H.Atkins 5-1 19-11 [60.47]
Ht 6: R.Lawson, S.Nicholls, T.Thomsen, A.Boughen 4-2 23-13 [60.34]
Ht 7: S.Hagon, B.Cook, C.Heeps, J.Jenkins 5-1 28-14 [61.44]
Ht 8: S.Hagon, L.Killeen, T.Thomsen, H.Atkins 4-2 32-16 [61.72]
Ht 9: Z.Cook, S.Nicholls, T.Brennan, S.Masters, L.Killeen [Tac Subbed] 4-2 36-18 [61.25]
Ht 10: R.Lawson, T.Thomsen, J.Jenkins, C.Heeps 5-1 41-19 [62.28]
Ht 11: B.Cook, L.Killeen, S.Masters, S.Hagon [fell] 3-3 44-22 [61.5]
Ht 12: T.Brennan, C.Heeps, M.Perry, A.Boughen 4-2 48-24 [62.96]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, B.Cook, S.Masters, S.Nicholls 5-1 53-25 [61.75]
Ht 14: Z.Cook, S.Hagon, J.Jenkins, L.Killeen 5-1 58-26 [61,.66]
Ht 15: R.Lawson, S.Nicholls, S.Masters, Z.Cook 3-3 61-29 [60.94]