REPORT: KO Cup Final 2nd Leg:Poole Pirates 57 Oxford Cheetahs 33

23/10/24

Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates replicated the score from the first leg of the KO Cup to seal the 2024 treble, regaining the Cup within eight heats at Wimborne Road

It had been 21 years since a Poole side last won a treble and six years since any side had managed it, but the Pirates were on the threshold of emulating those feats, needing just thirty four race points in this KO Cup final second leg.
They faced an Oxford side that bore little resemblance to the side that had matched Poole in reaching both the Grand Final and this cup final, and had been the only side to win at Wimborne Road this term. Injuries ruled out Scott Nicholls, Luke Killeen, Jordan Jenkins and Adam Roynon whilst Cameron Heeps was on paternity leave, which left just Sam Masters and Ashton Boughen as recognised Cheetahs.
Masters was backed up by guest Simon Lambert in the opening heat, although the Scunthorpe rider did cut across Sam Hagon's path at the fourth turn of the opening lap, whilst Richard Lawson sped away to win in a sub sixty-second time. Time was running preciously against Vinnie Foord in heat two, arriving at the tapes having switched bikes with just seven seconds left on the clock and that gave him little time to settle. Consequently he missed the gate, unlike teammate Tobias Thomsen but remained in pursuit, close enough for when Connor Coles hit the kerb on the fourth turn mid-race, Vinnie was there to snatch a point. Poole's acceleration to that magic figure continued, although Ashton Boughen slowed it a little by passing Zach Cook when the younger sibling lifted at a time he was sat on a potential 5-1 with the skipper. Such a heat score was to be posted though in heat four, Vinnie backing up Tom Brennan perfectly after withstanding an early challenge from Jason Edwards.
Ben Cook was fast away in heat five, leading Masters, but Zach found himself out of the points and in chasing mode, getting very close to Lambert on the run for the line. If Oxford were hoping they had arrested Poole's run of heat advantages it was only short-lived, for Lawson was untroubled again and Hagon rewarded for a neat switch of lines that took him by Connor Coles for another Poole 4-2. A superb move by Thomsen around the first bend allowed him to join Brennan on a 5-1 and with a maximum of forty points now available to Oxford they were in need of a minor miracle to pull this meeting around. Any thoughts they might were instantly dented when a vintage Sam Hagon move took him wide round the pit turn, into the lead, with Foord backing up for the 5-1 which secured the treble.
Until that stage of the meeting, Oxford hadn't managed a race winner but then three came along in succession. Edwards taking the flag in heat nine, Boughen making the best of a fortunate re-run after his partner Gilkes had fallen and the red lights came on, although the Redcar rider had cleared the track. Boughen continued his personal success against Lawson at Poole, thus turning what had been a Poole 5-1 into a shared heat. Masters then became the third Cheetah to gain a win, but academic though it was, Poole shared each of those heats to maintain their eighteen point second leg advantage.
Having lost out to Edwards in the ninth, Ben Cook was back in the groove and no-one could fault Foord for effort in his chase on Ben Trigger. The resulting 4-2 not only ended Oxford's mini-run of winners it also assured Poole of winning the meeting. Brennan was pegged back in heat thirteen but Zach Cook won heat fourteen for the twenty second time this season and the seventh successive meeting and had Thomsen supporting for what was to be Poole's final 5-1 of the season. Masters closed the 2024 campaign with victory in heat fifteen, the shared heat matching the scoreline from the first leg.

POOLE 57 114
Richard Lawson 3,3,2,3,1'=12+1 (5)
Sam Hagon 0,1,3,1'=5+1 (4)
Ben Cook 3,3,2,3,2=13 (5)
Zach Cook 1,0,1',3=5+1 (4)
Tom Brennan 3,3,2,0=8 (4)
Tobias Thomsen 3,2',1',2'=8+3 (4)
Vinnie Foord 1,2',2',1=6+2 (4)

OXFORD 33 66
Sam Masters 2,2,3,1',3=11+1 (5)
Simon Lambert 1',1',1,0=3+2 (4)
Ashton Boughen 0,0,3,0=3 (4)
Dan Gilkes 2,1,FD,1=4 (4)
Jason Edwards 1,2,3,2,0=8 (5)
Ben Trigger 2,0,RS,0,RS,2,0=4 (5)
Connor Coles 0,RS,0,RS,0,RS=0 (3)
.
Ht 1: R.Lawson, S.Masters , S.Lambert , S.Hagon 3-3 3-3 [59.57]
Ht 2: T.Thomsen , B.Trigger , V.Foord, C.Coles 4-2 7-5 [61.5]
Ht 3: B.Cook, D.Gilkes , Z.Cook, A.Boughen 4-2 11-7 [60.13]
Ht 4: T.Brennan , V.Foord, J.Edwards , B.Trigger 5-1 16-8 [61.37]
Ht 5: B.Cook, S.Masters , S.Lambert , Z.Cook 3-3 19-11 [60.72]
Ht 6: R.Lawson, J.Edwards , S.Hagon, C.Coles 4-2 23-13 [61.25]
Ht 7: T.Brennan , T.Thomsen , D.Gilkes , A.Boughen 5-1 28-14 [60.69]
Ht 8: S.Hagon, V.Foord, S.Lambert , B.Trigger 5-1 33-15 [62.5]
Ht 9: J.Edwards , B.Cook, Z.Cook, C.Coles 3-3 36-18 [60.63]
Ht 10: A.Boughen , R.Lawson, S.Hagon, D.Gilkes [fell exc] 3-3 39-21 [61]
Ht 11: S.Masters , T.Brennan , T.Thomsen , S.Lambert 3-3 42-24 [61.69]
Ht 12: B.Cook, B.Trigger , V.Foord, A.Boughen 4-2 46-26 [61.46]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, J.Edwards , S.Masters , T.Brennan 3-3 49-29 [60.28]
Ht 14: Z.Cook, T.Thomsen , D.Gilkes , B.Trigger 5-1 54-30 [62.56]
Ht 15: S.Masters , B.Cook, R.Lawson, J.Edwards 3-3 57-33 [61.56]
SCB Referee Chris Gay