REPORT Edinburgh 43 Poole 47

30/08/24

Poole completed their league campaign with an away win at Edinburgh that secures them top spot in the table ahead of the title-determining play-offs

Drawing in to the car park with less than thirty minutes to tapes up is not the ideal way for a number one to prepare for a speedway meeting, but the ever chilled Richard Lawson showed no signs of panic as he pulled up at the tapes in heat one, just as team manager Dan Ford was rushing in to the stadium.
Both had been seriously delayed by the M6 closure which added hours on to their respective journeys. As Ford was putting on his coat, Lawson was taking the flag with some ease to share heat one. Moments later, Tobias Thomsen was also sharp away and with Paul Starke, as guest, enjoying himself moving past Connor Coles and Max James, Poole went ahead, a lead further extended by the pace of Ben Cook in a re-started heat three, the original attempt having seen Zach Cook leave the grid far too soon and commit a starting offence, with Thomsen hastily prepared for an extra outing. Thomsen couldn't quite fend off the chasing Michele 'Paco' Castagna in the same manner that Cook did, but the 4-2 advantage for the Pirates put them more than a heat gain clear. Another Poole advantage was to quickly follow with Brennan leading throughout and Starke giving Troy Batchelor something to think about.
Indeed, the Edinburgh side were beginning to get more than a bit concerned as Poole led by eight and the last thing they wanted was to see Lawson get clear so easily in heat five. But their opportunity to try and redress the situation came in heat six when Pickering was only warned for moving at the tapes and then able to re-pass Brennan who had made a superb dive under him at the third turn of the third lap, whilst Drew Kemp kept Thomsen honest. Hopes though of a comeback were immediately thwarted by the Cook boys in heat seven and that gave Poole an even larger cushion, though the Monarchs looked set to counter in heat eight until Starke dug in and split Kemp and Connor Coles.
Halfway through and Poole were in the position they wanted to be in, but remarkably the pressure was about to increase on them as they sought a top spot finish in the table. After another sublime ride from Brennan to share heat nine, Edinburgh chipped two points off the deficit, with Pickering holding firm over the ever-trying Ben Cook and Kemp getting the better of Zach. Then Batchelor jumped out to gain an advantage over Lawson and whilst Starke, replacing the still-struggling Sam Hagon, took the third place there was just some positivity coming through from the Edinburgh camp. In came Pickering as a tactical substitute but somehow Ben Cook missed the call to tapes, expecting an interval delay and he had to sit the race out under the two minute rule. Pickering wasted no time in getting clear of Thomsen, who was doing a decent splitting job, until the final turn when Fredriksen found the ideal line and won the dash to the flag for a home 5-1.
Just two points between the sides and that is when you need your big guns, which both sides had of course in heat thirteen. Poole's proved just that much more effective with Lawson following home Brennan to put the meeting in touching distance. Zach Cook got it over the line with a fine win in a re-started heat fourteen after Thomsen had come down on his own. Poole were grateful for having done the hard graft early on in the meeting as Lawson suffered ignition problems in heat fifteen that saw him pull up early on and just watch the battle between Pickering and Brennan unfold, one that Pickering came out on top of to close the meeting out with Edinburgh's fifth heat advantage, equalling Poole's total although three of those from the Pirates were of the higher kind.

EDINBURGH 43
Josh Pickering 1',3,3,3,1,3=14+1 (6)
Drew Kemp 2,1,3,1=7 (4)
Lasse Fredriksen 0,1',1',2'=4+3 (4)
Michele Castagna 2,2,2,2,1=9 (5)
Troy Batchelor 2,1,3,0=6 (4)
Max James 0,0,F,1'=1+1 (4)
Connor Coles 1,0,1,TS=2 (3)
.
POOLE 47
Richard Lawson 3,3,2,3,R=11 (5)
Sam Hagon 0,0,0,RS=0 (3)
Ben Cook 3,3,2,N2=8 (3)
Zach Cook XE,2',0,3=5+1 (4)
Tom Brennan 3,2,3,2',2=12+1 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 3,1,0,0,1,FD=5 (6)
Paul Starke 2',1,2,1',R,RS=6+2 (5)
.
Ht 1: R.Lawson, D.Kemp, J.Pickering, S.Hagon 3-3 3-3 [55.21]
Ht 2: T.Thomsen, P.Starke, C.Coles, M.James 1-5 4-8 [x]
Ht 3: B.Cook, M.Castagna, T.Thomsen, L.Fredriksen, Z.Cook [tapes exc] 2-4 6-12 [55.74]
Ht 4: T.Brennan, T.Batchelor, P.Starke, C.Coles 2-4 8-16 [55.92]
Ht 5: R.Lawson, M.Castagna, L.Fredriksen, S.Hagon 3-3 11-19 [56.03]
Ht 6: J.Pickering, T.Brennan, D.Kemp, T.Thomsen 4-2 15-21 [55.96]
Ht 7: B.Cook, Z.Cook, T.Batchelor, M.James 1-5 16-26 [57.04]
Ht 8: D.Kemp, P.Starke, C.Coles, S.Hagon 4-2 20-28 [57.46]
Ht 9: T.Brennan, M.Castagna, L.Fredriksen, T.Thomsen 3-3 23-31 [56.72]
Ht 10: J.Pickering, B.Cook, D.Kemp, Z.Cook 4-2 27-33 [56.96]
Ht 11: T.Batchelor, R.Lawson, P.Starke, M.James [fell] 3-3 30-36 [57.74]
Ht 12: J.Pickering, L.Fredriksen, T.Thomsen, P.Starke [rtd], C.Coles [Tac Subbed] 5-1 35-37 [58.87]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, T.Brennan, J.Pickering, T.Batchelor 1-5 36-42 [57.88]
Ht 14: Z.Cook, M.Castagna, M.James, T.Thomsen [fell exc] 3-3 39-45 [58.1]
Ht 15: J.Pickering, T.Brennan, M.Castagna, R.Lawson [rtd] 4-2 43-47 []

SGB Referee Mr Jim McGregor
EDINBURGH won toss and deferred choice to heat 15; POOLE chose gates 1&3 |EDINBURGH choose gates 2&4 in heat 15