REPORT:Glasgow Tigers v Poole Pirates (Championship)

6/06/25

In the knowledge that their second northern tour of the season had been cut short by a leg with the early postponement of the following night's Workington fixture, the Pirates knew that they had to deliver a big performance against Glasgow if they were to go back home with some bounty.

So, when stand-in skipper Richard Lawson went too early in heat one and hit the tapes, Poole fans might have been forgiven for thinking "it's not going to be one of those nights". In place of Lawson came the newly crowned Harbour Master, Paul Starke but he found himself all at sea after three laps. Thankfully a determined Tobias Thomsen was able to split the Cornish pairing of Chris Harris and Tigers' guest Ben Barker. Out again, this time for his conventional reserve heat, Starke certainly seemed to benefit from his heat one exploits as he worked a passage through down the backstraight to set up his victory. Barker did what Barker does best and got on the wide line in heat three to take up the running but Lewis Kerr and Pirates' guest Jason Edwards were comfortably sharing the heat as Leon Flint couldn't strike. Anders Rowe produced an excellent piece of speedway to pass Kyle Howarth on the second lap of heat four whilst Darryl Ritchings, having made a good gate, held on to third, crucially, as Poole levelled the affair. Determined to get some points in his account, Lawson quickly hit the front in heat five and Thomsen didn't hang around in joining him and the ripples of fear ran through the minds of the Glasgow faithful as Poole took up a 17-13 advantage.

Another impressive piece of riding from Rowe saw him hold off Harris, no mean feat, but unfortunately Starke couldn't quite prevent Barker from snatching third place. In heat seven Howarth won the battle of the elbows over Kerr but again Edwards was picking up a valuable point, protecting Poole's lead. Thomsen demonstrated the art of determination as he preyed on Max Perry for three whole laps, taking his change to go round him on the final circuit to take the win. Heat nine wasn't the ideal time for the Pirates pair of Rowe and Starke to both miss the start as Harris made them pay for it whilst Flint for once looked to be enjoying himself at the races. Glasgow thus levelled the meeting and appeared set to make it back to back 5-1 advantages until Kerr, who clearly moved at the start and earned a retrospective warning, battled through to pass Barker and defied any comeback the Plymouth skipper attempted to launch. (31-29)

Lawson took control at the first turn whilst Toby chased really hard but couldn't quiite land a blow on Howarth but at least the scores were all square again. Edwards took charge of heat twelve and had able support from Starke who defied every move Flint attempted, a valuable 5-1 being recorded in Poole's favour. Harris sped away in thirteen but both Lawson and Rowe were content to gain the heat share. Holding a four point lead going into the penultimate heat the Pirates made a reserve switch bringing in Starke, who barely made the two minutes, but he spent the duration of the race doing his job by holding out Hodder whilst Kerr had a comfortable distance over Flint to ensure the victory on the night with a race to spare. Harris completed his night with that single dropped point to Rowe from heat six, preventing him from maxing out, whilst Howarth rode well to keep Rowe out of the reckoning, obviously hoping to keep things as tight as possible for the beginning of July when the Tigers venture south.

GLASGOW 43
Chris Harris 3,2,3,3,3,3=17 (6)
Ben Barker 1,3,1',1',1=7+2 (5)
Rider Replacement
Leon Flint 0,0,2',1,2=5+1 (5)
Kyle Howarth 2,1,3,2,0,1=9 (6)
Freddy Hodder 1',0,0,0=1+1 (4)
Max Perry 2,0,2,0=4 (4)
Stene Pijper =0 ()
POOLE 47
Richard Lawson XE,3,3,1',2=9+1 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 2,2',3,1=8+1 (4)
Jason Edwards 1',1',0,3=5+2 (4)
Lewis Kerr 2,2,2,3=9 (4)
Anders Rowe 3,3,1,2,0=9 (5)
Paul Starke 0,3,0,0,2',1=6+1 (6)
Darryl Ritchings 0,1,R,RS=1 (3)
.
Ht 1: C.Harris, T.Thomsen, B.Barker, P.Starke, R.Lawson [tapes exc] 4-2 4-2 [57.02]
Ht 2: P.Starke, M.Perry, F.Hodder, D.Ritchings 3-3 7-5 [58.98]
Ht 3: B.Barker, L.Kerr, J.Edwards, L.Flint 3-3 10-8 [57.84]
Ht 4: A.Rowe, K.Howarth, D.Ritchings, M.Perry 2-4 12-12 [58.3]
Ht 5: R.Lawson, T.Thomsen, K.Howarth, L.Flint 1-5 13-17 [57.23]
Ht 6: A.Rowe, C.Harris, B.Barker, P.Starke 3-3 16-20 [57.25]
Ht 7: K.Howarth, L.Kerr, J.Edwards, F.Hodder 3-3 19-23 [58.78]
Ht 8: T.Thomsen, M.Perry, B.Barker, D.Ritchings [rtd] 3-3 22-26 [59.07]
Ht 9: C.Harris, L.Flint, A.Rowe, P.Starke 5-1 27-27 [57.86]
Ht 10: C.Harris, L.Kerr, B.Barker, J.Edwards 4-2 31-29 [58.28]
Ht 11: R.Lawson, K.Howarth, T.Thomsen, F.Hodder 2-4 33-33 [58.23]
Ht 12: J.Edwards, P.Starke, L.Flint, M.Perry 1-5 34-38 [59.14]
Ht 13: C.Harris, A.Rowe, R.Lawson, K.Howarth 3-3 37-41 [57.42]
Ht 14: L.Kerr, L.Flint, P.Starke, F.Hodder 2-4 39-45 [59.01]
Ht 15: C.Harris, R.Lawson, K.Howarth, A.Rowe 4-2 43-47 [57.94]