Report: Poole Pirates v Glasgow Tigers (Championship)

Pirates demolished one of their fiercest rivals in the SGB Cab Direct Championship, the Glasgow Tigers, to move five points clear of the Scottish side at the top of the table.

A meeting that saw the long awaited debut of William Cairns had the Pirates in unbeatable form and had effectively secured victory without conceding a heat defeat. Eventually winning 57-33.

The Pirates really had the appetite for this match and the eagerness by both sides to get off to a good start was evident in heat one when both Richard Lawson and Chris Harris were handed warnings for not remaining stationery as the opener was called back for a second attempt. It was Lawson who had the pace and and whilst Tobias Thomsen held firm on Danyon Hume he had no response to the forward charge by Harris. The much awaited Poole debut for teenage sensation Will Cairns could not have gone any better as he made the start off gate four and had Starke backing him up. A second big 5-1 immediately followed as Lewis Kerr and Zach Cook played the 'Perfect Game' over the Thompson Twins,. Anders Rowe looked like the only possible winner of heat four as he sped away even though he had Kyle Howarth in pursuit after the Tiger had nipped through a gap between Rowe and Cairns on turn two. Harris became the first visitor to win a race as he powered past Kerr coming out of turn two in an otherwise from the gate outcome. (21-9).

Heat six was halted on the second lap when Freddy Hodder went into the fence having come under pressure from Lawson who had missed the start badly and left himself a lot to do. Given a second chance Lawson took it with both hands emphatically denying Howarth any hope of retaining his first attempt lead. A track grade followed, ostensibly also to allow the sun to set a bit and when the racing resumed it took an almighty ride by Rowe to, first on the opening lap, split the Thompson boys at the fourth turn and then a lap later, in a similar place, blitz by Dan to ensure Poole lost none of their solid lead. Freddy Hodder was introduced at the expense of Max Perry in heat eight but Cairns was head and shoulders the fastest in the heat, leaving Danyon Hume in his wake. Tobias Thomsen made progress passing Hodder but it was another third place for him to add to his opener. Rather than make Hodder do two on the bounce, Glasgow brought in Harris as a tactical substitute to partner Howarth, but neither of the two Tigers' heat leaders could defy the defensive ride by Zach Cook whilst Kerr led. In heat ten Lawson sought out the widest possible line, sling shooting himself into the lead at the expense of Dan Thompson and again Toby claimed a point and realistically the contest was over; the Tigers not having scored a heat gain from the first two-thirds of the meeting (41-19).

There was one just in the waiting, however, as Hume refused to give up the chase on Paul Starke whilst Harris was defeating Rowe. Hume's progress gave Glasgow a consolation 4-2 and whilst Dan Thompson put his name on the list of race winners after he and Kerr switched lines simultaneously, Cairns seemed content, sensibly, to tuck in behind Kerr. A brief lack of concentration coming off the final turn however nearly proved costly for the new recruit as Hodder had found a faster line, but Will recovered in time to share the twelfth. Heat thirteen was super speedway as Lawson and Harris traded places throughout the first couple of laps, before the Rocketman took command. It finished as a drawn heat with Rowe unable to make his presence felt. Starke jumped on the bandwagon of race winners, becoming the fifth Pirate and seventh rider to win a heat, but Joe Thompson cleverly thwarted everything Cook threw at him, but the most frequent race winner was at it again in heat fifteen with Lawson having to be clever to get by Howarth and to celebrate a second successive unbeaten Wimborne Road performance.  

POOLE 57
Richard Lawson 3,3,3,3,3=15 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 1,1,1,1=4 (4)
Lewis Kerr 3,2,3,2,1=11 (5)
Zach Cook 2',1',2',1=6+3 (4)
Anders Rowe 3,3,2,0=8 (4)
Paul Starke 2',0,0,3=5+1 (4)
Will Cairns 3,1,3,1'=8+1 (4)

GLASGOW 33
Chris Harris 2,3,1,3,2,R=11 (6)
Danyon Hume 0,0,2,1=3 (4)
> Dan Thompson 0,2,2,3=7 (4)
Joe Thompson 1,1',0,2=4+1 (4)
Kyle Howarth 2,2,0,1',2=7+1 (5)
Freddy Hodder 1,FD,0,TS,0=1 (4)
Max Perry 0,0,RS,0=0 (3)

Ht 1:  R.Lawson, C.Harris, T.Thomsen, D.Hume 4-2 4-2 [60.85]
Ht 2:  W.Cairns, P.Starke, F.Hodder, M.Perry 5-1 9-3 [61.93]
Ht 3:  L.Kerr, Z.Cook, J.Thompson, D.Thompson 5-1 14-4 [61.45]
Ht 4:  A.Rowe, K.Howarth, W.Cairns, M.Perry 4-2 18-6 [60.52]
Ht 5:  C.Harris, L.Kerr, Z.Cook, D.Hume 3-3 21-9 [61.29]
Ht 6:  R.Lawson, K.Howarth, T.Thomsen, F.Hodder [fell exc] 4-2 25-11 [60.6]
Ht 7:  A.Rowe, D.Thompson, J.Thompson, P.Starke 3-3 28-14 [62.21]
Ht 8:  W.Cairns, D.Hume, T.Thomsen, F.Hodder 4-2 32-16 [62.46]
Ht 9:  L.Kerr, Z.Cook, C.Harris, K.Howarth, F.Hodder [Tac Subbed] 5-1 37-17 [61.28]
Ht 10:  R.Lawson, D.Thompson, T.Thomsen, J.Thompson 4-2 41-19 [61.65]
Ht 11:  C.Harris, A.Rowe, D.Hume, P.Starke 2-4 43-23 [61.06]
Ht 12:  D.Thompson, L.Kerr, W.Cairns, F.Hodder 3-3 46-26 [62.87]
Ht 13:  R.Lawson, C.Harris, K.Howarth, A.Rowe 3-3 49-29 [62.4]
Ht 14:  P.Starke, J.Thompson, Z.Cook, M.Perry 4-2 53-31 [63.04]
Ht 15:  R.Lawson, K.Howarth, L.Kerr, C.Harris [rtd] 4-2 57-33 [62.48]

 
SGB Referee  Christina Turnbull/Trainee Josh Marsh 
POOLE won toss and chose gates 1&3 | GLASGOW choose gates 1&3 in heat 15  
League Points: POOLE 3 GLASGOW 0

Post Match Reaction