REPORT: Poole Pirates v Oxford Cheetahs (BSN)

7/05/25

Oxford arrived with a purpose and left Wimborne Road with mission accomplished, albeit with the tainted news of a further injury to their number, after Dan Gilkes crashed out in heat ten.

Already operating rider replacement for Cameron Heeps (shoulder injury), which allowed for each member of the side to be eligible for an extra ride, finishing with five men standing and surviving a last heat decider just adds to their mixed emotions.

Sam Masters and Jonas Knudsen set Oxford on their way in a heat where Richard Lawson had to work hard to get by the latter and then the strong reserve pairing of Mitch McDiarmid and Luke Killeen, from the university city club stirred little surprise around the terraces, the Poole fans needing a super ride from Anders Rowe to get by Knudsen and Dan Gilkes to give them something to cling on to as he saved the heat. Lewi Kerr looked set to become the second winning Pirate until his bike malfunctioned on the last lap of heat four and that allowed Jordan Jenkins to move in for a victory that converted a likely shared heat into another Oxford gain. Zach Cook did well to split Masters and Gilkes in heat five, a race that saw Rowe invest plenty of effort but without any dividend. The points down at home after five is not a position the must-win Pirates wanted to find themselves, but under such circumstances did allow the skipper an extra ride as he came in to replace Thomsen and pair with Lawson. But the plan looked good on paper, not quite so on shale, as Cook went a little too wide at the first turn and Lawson was caught in no-man's land by impressive reserve McDiarmid, thus the throw of the dice only served to share the heat, failing to eat into the deficit.

There were no problems for Kerr in heat seven but alas, Starke inherited them as he seemed to lack power on the opening lap and that allowed Gilkes and Knudsen to put distance between themselves and Starke, safe in the knowledge that Kerr's victory wouldn't adversely affect their advantage. The telegraphed use of Masters in heat eight reaped expected rewards but to the full credit of Thomsen he pushed the Wimborne Road big hitter hard all the way. Starke ensured another shared heat, but races were slowly slipping away from the Pirates who were still behind by a double figure margin. So, Cook and Rowe's 5-1 was much appreciated, and needed, Rowe having to withstand pressure from McDiarmid before being certain of having played his part in the Pirates' first heat gain in nine.

A second followed in heat ten but it was gifted as Gilkes ran wide on the final turn when second and took an awkward fall that led to lengthy medical attention and a trip to Poole Hospital. Thomsen picked up the third place to support Lawson's fine victory, the gap now having shrunk to just four points.

Racing was held up for around an hour, with the paramedic accompanying Gilkes to the hospital, and when racing eventually resumed it was Oxford back amongst the big points with Masters and McDiarmid maxing-out over Kerr and Marson. Rowe was sublime in heat twelve passing Knudsen sweetly and whilst Starke was also putting in the hard yards he couldn't create a suitable opening .

Poole still had six points to pull back and with just three heats remaining they knew that they needed heat gains if they were to turn the meeting round. Kerr and Lawson clearly had a plan in heat thirteen but frustratingly Kerr just ran up too close to the fence at the end of the first curve and that cost him his position alongside Lawson, but at long last the Masters maximum had been cracked open. Zach Cook passed McDiarmid in heat fourteen, a race that he regularly wins, but Starke again couldn't squeeze his way by, thus sending the meeting down to the wire with Poole needing a 5-1 to force a superheat. Cook was called upon to join Lawson as potential last gap heroes, but it was only Lawson who was able, through nothing short of intense determination. to get by Masters and therefore the hopes of a super heat were shattered.

POOLE 44
Richard Lawson 2,2,3,3,3=13 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 0,TS,2,1=3 (3)
Anders Rowe 3,0,2',3=8+1 (4)
Zach Cook 0,2,1',3,3,1=10+1 (6)
Lewis Kerr 2,3,1,0=6 (4)
Paul Starke 1,0,1',RS,1,1=4+1 (5)
Matt Marson 0,0,RS,0,RS=0 (3)
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OXFORD 46
Sam Masters 3,3,3,3,2,2=16 (6)
Rider Replacement RR,RR,RR,RR=0 ()
Jonas Knudsen 1,1',1',2,2,0=7+2 (6)
Dan Gilkes 2,1,2,F=5 (4)
Jordan Jenkins 3,0,0,1'=4+1 (4)
Mitch McDiarmid 3,3,1,2',RS,2=11+1 (5)
Luke Killeen 2',1',0,0,0=3+2 (5)
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Ht 1: S.Masters, R.Lawson, J.Knudsen, T.Thomsen 2-4 2-4 [59.22]
Ht 2: M.McDiarmid, L.Killeen, P.Starke, M.Marson 1-5 3-9 [59.5]
Ht 3: A.Rowe, D.Gilkes, J.Knudsen, Z.Cook 3-3 6-12 [59.22]
Ht 4: J.Jenkins , L.Kerr, L.Killeen, M.Marson 2-4 8-16 [61.33]
Ht 5: S.Masters, Z.Cook, D.Gilkes, A.Rowe 2-4 10-20 [60.16]
Ht 6: M.McDiarmid, R.Lawson, Z.Cook, J.Jenkins , T.Thomsen [Tac Subbed] 3-3 13-23 [60.46]
Ht 7: L.Kerr, D.Gilkes, J.Knudsen, P.Starke 3-3 16-26 [61.28]
Ht 8: S.Masters, T.Thomsen, P.Starke, L.Killeen 3-3 19-29 [61.15]
Ht 9: Z.Cook, A.Rowe, M.McDiarmid, J.Jenkins 5-1 24-30 [60.5]
Ht 10: R.Lawson, J.Knudsen, T.Thomsen, D.Gilkes [fell] 4-2 28-32 [61.12]
Ht 11: S.Masters, M.McDiarmid, L.Kerr, M.Marson 1-5 29-37 [61.16]
Ht 12: A.Rowe, J.Knudsen, P.Starke, L.Killeen 4-2 33-39 [61.81]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, S.Masters, J.Jenkins , L.Kerr 3-3 36-42 [61.47]
Ht 14: Z.Cook, M.McDiarmid, P.Starke, L.Killeen 4-2 40-44 [59.95]
Ht 15: R.Lawson, S.Masters, Z.Cook, J.Knudsen 4-2 44-46 []