REPORT: Plymouth Gladiators 49 Poole Pirates 41 (KO Cup)

24/05/25

Poole Pirates lost for the second tme this season at the Coliseum, Plymouth this time to the bigger margin of eight points in the first leg of the MAXiCab KO Cup quarter final.

Tobias Thomsen made a stunning gate to get this cup tie underway, unlike his partner Richard Lawson who had been asking for the start light to be flashed as he settled in at the tapes. With the random start mechanism in place these days it was not possible and uncharacteristically for Lawson at Plymouth he missed the start and couldn't recover, recording on his sixth non-scoring ride in ninety-nine starts! The early phases of heat two had Poole sharing the heat again but a slight error at the fourth turn cost Darryl Ritchings his third place, although he did continue to put pressure on Ben Trigger. A shared heat ensue in heat three as Anders Rowe romped home whilst skipper Zach Cook missed a couple of passing opportunities offered up to him by a regular out-of-shape Alfie Bowtell. (10-8)

Ritchings recovered well in heat four after a brief error around the first arc and was able to keep out Cluff and support Lewis Kerr's second place, keeping the match close. A more traditional start from Lawson set him up to become Poole's third race winner, Thomsen throughout the heat hot on the heels of Ben Barker. Having levelled the meeting up, Poole conceded a 5-1 as guest Chris Harris shepherded Bowtell home, keeping him protected from anything Kerr could muster before his bike gave way. (20-16)

Rowe rode extremely well to keep Barker at bay for most of heat seven, whilst Cook led, but off the final turn Barker went for the wide line and Rowe couldn't quite shut the door in time; the Pirates having to settle for a 4-2. A strong first turn from Thomsen set him up for his second race victory and it certainly wasn't through lack of effort that Ritchings failed to cling on to his one-time third place that would have squared proceedings again. That balancing up came courtesy of Kerr's tapes to flag victory and Starke holding off Trigger in heat nine. (27-27)

Rowe performed well again in heat ten, keeping an outright race win off the cards of Harris but disappointingly Cook was unable to land any telling blows on Bowtell, preventing Poole going ahead. A pair of strong starts from the Gladiator's duo of Barker and Mitchell Cluff left Lawson with plenty of work to do, only managing to pass Cluff, Thomsen having been caught out by the graveyard gate four. In heat twelve, the early show from Paul Starke was negated as he was muscled out the way by both Cluff and Lasse Fredrikssen off the second turn and immediately a six point gap developed, with no tactical substitutes to call on in the KO Cup competition. (39-33)

So Poole needed a big immediate response, and looked to be on course for it as heat thirteen got underway. Both Lawson and Kerr clear at the first turn the red lights came on with an unsatisfactory start ruled due to movement from Harris. That call was a blessing for the Plymouth camp as in the restart Harris made it and Barker was able to get the better of Kerr. The resulting 4-2 leaving Pirates needing two 5-1's to avoid a deficit to take into the second leg. Cook was unable to make his good start stick, Fredriksen passing to set up Plymouth's fourth heat advantage in as many heats. Briefly, a Poole response of a 5-1 looked possible, but Barker found room under Rowe on the fourth bend of the opening lap. Rowe then had to deal, with good skill, to keep out Harris' interests to ensure that the deficit was limited to single digits. (41-49).

PLYMOUTH 49
Chris Harris 1',2',2,3,0=8+2 (5)
Alfie Bowtell 2,1',3,1',1'=8+3 (5)
Rider Replacement
Lasse Fredriksen 2,0,2,2',3=9+1 (5)
Ben Barker 3,2,2,3,1,2=13 (6)
Mitchell Cluff 3,0,0,1,3,1=8 (6)
Ben Trigger 1,RS,2,0,RS=3 (3)
.
POOLE 41
Richard Lawson 0,3,2,2,3=10 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 3,1,3,0=7 (4)
Anders Rowe 3,1,3,0,1=8 (5)
Zach Cook 0,3,0,2=5 (4)
Lewis Kerr 2,R,3,0=5 (4)
Paul Starke 2,1,1,1=5 (4)
Darryl Ritchings 0,1',0,0=1+1 (4)
.
Ht 1: T.Thomsen, A.Bowtell, C.Harris, R.Lawson 3-3 3-3 [51.58]
Ht 2: M.Cluff, P.Starke, B.Trigger, D.Ritchings 4-2 7-5 [54.67]
Ht 3: A.Rowe, L.Fredriksen, A.Bowtell, Z.Cook 3-3 10-8 [53.07]
Ht 4: B.Barker, L.Kerr, D.Ritchings, M.Cluff 3-3 13-11 [53.24]
Ht 5: R.Lawson, B.Barker, T.Thomsen, L.Fredriksen 2-4 15-15 [52.65]
Ht 6: A.Bowtell, C.Harris, P.Starke, L.Kerr [rtd] 5-1 20-16 [52.84]
Ht 7: Z.Cook, B.Barker, A.Rowe, M.Cluff 2-4 22-20 [56.71]
Ht 8: T.Thomsen, B.Trigger, A.Bowtell, D.Ritchings 3-3 25-23 [52.73]
Ht 9: L.Kerr, L.Fredriksen, P.Starke, B.Trigger 2-4 27-27 [53.4]
Ht 10: A.Rowe, C.Harris, A.Bowtell, Z.Cook 3-3 30-30 [52.69]
Ht 11: B.Barker, R.Lawson, M.Cluff, T.Thomsen 4-2 34-32 [52.7]
Ht 12: M.Cluff, L.Fredriksen, P.Starke, A.Rowe 5-1 39-33 [54.35]
Ht 13: C.Harris, R.Lawson, B.Barker, L.Kerr 4-2 43-35 [52.78]
Ht 14: L.Fredriksen, Z.Cook, M.Cluff, D.Ritchings 4-2 47-37 [53.94]
Ht 15: R.Lawson, B.Barker, A.Rowe, C.Harris 2-4 49-41 []

SGB Referee Wayne Jarvis
PLYMOUTH won toss and chose gates 1&3 | POOLE choose gates 1&3 in heat 15