RESULT: Poole 47 Redcar 43

5/06/24

Poole protected their unbeaten start to the SGB Cab Direct Championship with a hard-earned victory over the resurgent Redcar Bears, needing a string of maximum heat advantages mid-meeting to set up the 47-43 result

Having won at Plymouth the night before, and coming off the back of their first league victory by beating Glasgow at the weekend, the Redcar Bears were never going to be any pushover and they soon found themselves in the ascendency. Whilst they didn't have any answer to Richard Lawson in heat one, the Poole number one making the most of the wide track freedom whilst the three inside riders were all trying to squeeze each other out at the entrance to the first turn, it was Redcar who first broke the deadlock. Newly crowned British U21 champion, Sam Hagon had a dreadful 'homecoming', looking down on power, but debutant Vinnie Foord was lively enough and soon had the crown on their feet applauding his determination, which unfortunately caused him to flip leaving the fourth bend for the final time as he was attempting to reel in the vulnerable Ben Trigger, whilst Jake Mulford led. Jason Edwards delivered a good ride in heat three, first by holding off Zach Cook in the early stages and then by defying Tom Brennan who took on the quest of hunting him down. Cook then lost power on the final lap, which allowed Dan Gilkes in for a point and enabling Redcar to extend their lead. An early reserve switch for Poole saw Hagon taking Foord's ride, but he still seemed short of fire-power from the tapes. Ben Cook on the other hand was superb and whilst Hagon was able to find some speed the more the race progressed, Mulford held him off to protect the Bears' lead.
Charles Wright produced a great ride to go through a gap left by the Pirates to initially split them. and then he opted to take a good wide line to pass Brennan. The Poole man came back strong but couldn't quite repay the compliment. The Pirates first heat advantage eventually came in heat six but even that was restrictd to a 4-2 as Sedgmen blocked Thomsen early on. Edwards found a good line to take up the running of heat seven from the sharper gating Hagon but with Gilkes, as backmarker falling and quickly clearing the track, the race was shared, suiting the visitors who remained four points to the good.
Connor Bailey put the embarassment of falling over his machine at the start by getting the best break and led throughout the duration of heat eight. Foord almost managed to pick off Mulford on opening lap but again his efforts weren't justly rewarded. The much awaited sight of the Pirates coming out of the first bend in first and second places with no major threat, appeared in heat nine and Zach Cook and Brennan were able to keep it that way, Brennan keeping a close check on just where his partner was. A second 5-1 followed in heat ten and Poole found themselves ahead for the first time thanks to determined effort by Thomsen to hold off the pressing duo of Edwards and Gilkes. A tapes to flag triumph for Ben Cook was well supported by Hagon who did well to hold off Wright and give the Pirates a third successive 5-1.
Brennan then enjoyed a comfortable win over tac sub Wright, whilst Foord almost blasted through from the back on bend one. Twelve heats through and Poole leading by half a dozen points (36-30).
They were on a near certain shared heat with Lawson well clear a shed chain a the first turn of lap four proved costly as it was the Redcar duo of Wright and Justin Sedgmen (guest for Danny King) who stepped in to the void, thus reducing Poole's advantage to a slender two points, both sides needing a good finish.
Hagon tried really hard in his chase of Edwards during heat fourteen, but Zach Cook's third place was enough to share the spoils and at least leave the Pirates in the driving seat. A follow-up shared heat would have sufficed for the Pirates to retain their unbeaten league start but Brennan had the scent of a third race win that he couldn't resist and picked off Edwards to give the Pirates a 4-2, with Lawson third and it will remain to be seen if those extra points has any future bearing in the destination of the bonus point.

POOLE 47
Richard Lawson 3,3,3,R,1=10 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 0,1,2,2'=5+1 (4)
Tom Brennan 2,2,3,3,3=13 (5)
Zach Cook 0,1',2',1'=4+3 (4)
Ben Cook 3,1',3,1=8+1 (4)
Sam Hagon 1,0,2,2,2=7 (5)
Vinnie Foord F,RS,0,0=0 (3)
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REDCAR 43
Charles Wright 2,3,1,2,3,0=11 (6)
Connor Bailey 1',0,3,0=4+1 (4)
Dan Gilkes 1,F,0,1'=2+1 (4)
Jason Edwards 3,3,1,3,2=12 (5)
Justin Sedgmen 2,2,1,2'=7+1 (4)
Ben Trigger 2',0,0,TS=2+1 (3)
Jake Mulford 3,1',1,0=5+1 (4)
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Ht 1: R.Lawson, C.Wright, C.Bailey, T.Thomsen 3-3 3-3 [60.04]
Ht 2: J.Mulford, B.Trigger, S.Hagon, V.Foord [fell] 1-5 4-8 [61.06]
Ht 3: J.Edwards, T.Brennan, D.Gilkes, Z.Cook 2-4 6-12 [60.37]
Ht 4: B.Cook, J.Sedgmen, J.Mulford, S.Hagon 3-3 9-15 [60.09]
Ht 5: C.Wright, T.Brennan, Z.Cook, C.Bailey 3-3 12-18 [60.66]
Ht 6: R.Lawson, J.Sedgmen, T.Thomsen, B.Trigger 4-2 16-20 [59.87]
Ht 7: J.Edwards, S.Hagon, B.Cook, D.Gilkes [fell] 3-3 19-23 [60.81]
Ht 8: C.Bailey, T.Thomsen, J.Mulford, V.Foord 2-4 21-27 [60.69]
Ht 9: T.Brennan, Z.Cook, J.Sedgmen, B.Trigger 5-1 26-28 [61.4]
Ht 10: R.Lawson, T.Thomsen, J.Edwards, D.Gilkes 5-1 31-29 [61.53]
Ht 11: B.Cook, S.Hagon, C.Wright, C.Bailey 5-1 36-30 [60.75]
Ht 12: T.Brennan, C.Wright, D.Gilkes, V.Foord, B.Trigger [Tac Subbed] 3-3 39-33 [60.69]
Ht 13: C.Wright, J.Sedgmen, B.Cook, R.Lawson [rtd] 1-5 40-38 [61.78]
Ht 14: J.Edwards, S.Hagon, Z.Cook, J.Mulford 3-3 43-41 [61.85]
Ht 15: T.Brennan, J.Edwards, R.Lawson, C.Wright 4-2 47-43 [61.33]