REPORT KO Cup Final 1st Leg: Oxford Cheetahs 33 Poole Pirates 57

17/10/24

Poole are well on course to completing the 2024 treble after winning the first leg of the Knockout Cup Final away at Oxford by 24 points, against an injury ravaged Oxford side.

An air of resignation due to an injury crisis and a hostile reception towards the Poole Pirates, Oxford provided the treble seeking Pirates with all the ingredients for an inspired opening assault on the KO Cup.
Matters were to get much worse for the home side as they lost the services of Scott Nicholls without their skipper able to complete a bend, as he lifted badly and careered into the airbarrier, taking Tom Brennan with him.

That occurred in heat four, with the scores on the board glistening at 9-9, the Cheetahs having countered Poole's reserve partnership's 5-1 through Cameron Heeps and Dan Gilkes remaining unchallenged by the Cook boys. But that advantage was a false dawn for the league runners-up, and later proved to be the only time Poole were outpointed over the fifteen first leg heats. In the main, it was due to inspired rides from Tobias Thomsen and Vinnie Foord, both riders unbeaten by an opponent in their first three outings each, not to mention off-in-the-distance rides by Richard Lawson and Tom Brennan.

After Brennan and Foord claimed a 5-1 from the re-start of that fourth heat
Poole somewhat surprisingly extended their lead two heats later when Thomsen powered off the outside to round Masters, who earlier had shown his true class by holding out Lawson in the opening heat. The Cooks reversed the result of their first partnership of the night, by both getting by Dan Gilkes in heat seven to put a handy ten points between the sides.

Thomsen was called upon in heat eight to link up with Foord, at the expense of a struggling Sam Hagon, and the partnership performed perfectly well again, delivering another Poole 5-1 and with barely time for a breather, Thomsen, although being split from leader Brennan by Heeps in heat nine still gained a heat winning third place to take the margin to the sixteen point level.
Masters arrested the run of Poole race winners in heat ten but the Cook brothers were untroubled by Connor Coles. Jack Smith and Ashton Boughen both then had the beating of Hagon but had no chance of making an impression on comfortable leader Lawson, before Heeps enjoyed a tapes to flag heat twelve victory to make it three shared heats in a row.
Poole's big finish was about to be played out, Lawson and Brennan far too quick for the ever-trying Heeps and retiring Masters in heat thirteen, before Foord's dream of a paid maximum were quoshed when he totally missed the start in heat fourteen, but still Oxford couldn't claw any points back as Zach Cook banked his first outright race win. Refusing to ease off the gas, Poole turned again to Lawson and Brennan and with the latter making a good move on Heeps at turn three first time around, the first leg winning margin for the Pirates rose to twenty-four points and surely Poole are going to get their fingerprints back on the trophy they have held for two out of the previous three seasons.
 

OXFORD 33
Sam Masters 3,2,3,R,R=8 (5)
Ashton Boughen R,0,1,N2,1'=2+1 (4)
Cameron Heeps 3,1',2,3,1,1=11+1 (6)
Dan Gilkes 2',2,1,0,1'=6+2 (5)
Scott Nicholls FD,NS,NS,NS=0 (1)
Jack Smith F,0,2,2=4 (4)
Connor Coles 1,1,0,0,0=2 (5)
.
POOLE 57
Richard Lawson 2,3,3,3,3=14 (5)
Sam Hagon 1',0,RS,0=1+1 (3)
Ben Cook 0,3,2,2=7 (4)
Zach Cook 1,2',1',3=7+2 (4)
Tom Brennan 3,1,3,2',2'=11+2 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 3,3,3,1,1'=11+1 (5)
Vinnie Foord 2',2',2',0=6+3 (4)
.
Ht 1: S.Masters, R.Lawson, S.Hagon, A.Boughen [rtd] 3-3 3-3 [59.16]
Ht 2: T.Thomsen , V.Foord, C.Coles, J.Smith [fell] 1-5 4-8 [59.9]
Ht 3: C.Heeps, D.Gilkes , Z.Cook, B.Cook 5-1 9-9 [59.95]
Ht 4: T.Brennan , V.Foord, C.Coles, S.Nicholls [fell exc] 1-5 10-14 [60.72]
Ht 5: R.Lawson, D.Gilkes , C.Heeps, S.Hagon 3-3 13-17 [59.35]
Ht 6: T.Thomsen , S.Masters, T.Brennan , A.Boughen 2-4 15-21 [59.6]
Ht 7: B.Cook, Z.Cook, D.Gilkes , J.Smith , S.Nicholls [NS] 1-5 16-26 [59.8]
Ht 8: T.Thomsen , V.Foord, A.Boughen, C.Coles 1-5 17-31 [60.91]
Ht 9: T.Brennan , C.Heeps, T.Thomsen , D.Gilkes 2-4 19-35 [59.74]
Ht 10: S.Masters, B.Cook, Z.Cook, C.Coles 3-3 22-38 [59.92]
Ht 11: R.Lawson, J.Smith , A.Boughen, S.Hagon, S.Nicholls [NS] 3-3 25-41 [59.8]
Ht 12: C.Heeps, B.Cook, T.Thomsen , C.Coles 3-3 28-44 [60.13]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, T.Brennan , C.Heeps, S.Masters [rtd], S.Nicholls [NS] 1-5 29-49 [59.68]
Ht 14: Z.Cook, J.Smith , D.Gilkes , V.Foord 3-3 32-52 [60.95]
Ht 15: R.Lawson, T.Brennan , C.Heeps, S.Masters (rtd) 1-5 33-57 [59.94]