REPORT:Redcar Bears 46 Poole Pirates 44 (Championship)

25/07/25

Poole just missed out on another northern away win on a night when not a great deal of fortune fell their way, but taking the match to a last heat decider they did secure the bonus point

When skipper Zach Cook won the toss and chose to defer gate positions until heat fifteen he was supporting the general consenus that this was going to be a close meeting, and that is exactly what was delivered, although there were some twists and turns on the way.

Tobias Thomsen gated well in heat one but Charles Wright quickly hunted him down, but closing down opponents was not possible for Richard Lawson as his power levels were as flat as a pancake. Through Paul Starke's fine win from the gate in heat two and William Cairns' good turn two entrance cut-back to allow him to engage in third place over Ace Pijper, the Pirates were able to level the meeting and then through Lewi Kerr and Cook accelerate into a four point lead with a runaway 5-1. Back on gate four, this time as rider replacement cover for Anders Rowe who had been ordered to ride in Poland, Lawson was hoping for greater success, but largely that was just forlorn. Cairns had made the first turn in good position but Danny King forced him to go wider than he would have liked and that created an opening for Pijper to slide into. Without his usual pace, Lawson was unable to cash in, although he did work hard to try and put Pijper under pressure. The scores were back level again and remarkably the next six heats were all to be shared as three-alls. Jason Edwards produced a piece of sheer brilliance in heat five to pass both Tobias and Lawson, the latter having switched to his second bike and looking far more competitive as until that late move from the 'Billericay Kid', the Pirates were set to re-establish the advantage. (15-15).

Having been denied one opportunity to pick up a heat gain, Poole were immediately denied again, this time through Wright passing Kerr late on in heat six. King ruled heat seven from the gate whilst, back in third, Kerr had to be on guard duty as Jody Scott looked more than interested in the point on offer. Heat eight witnessed Cairns doing the holding job whilst Thomsen tried to pursue an impressive Pijper whilst Cook took heat nine with a tapes to flag triumph. Poole's skipper couldn't, however, make it back to back wins as Wright took control in forceful fashion to complete the sequence of six shared heats (33-33).

In heat eleven we saw the true Richard Lawson. Making lots of speed and comprehensively beating the previous unbeaten King and with Thomsen pushing the ex-Poole captain all the way, the Pirates again broke the deadlock to go two up. Kerr looked sure to gain second place behind Edwards in heat twelve until a jubilee clip snapped on his bike, dislodging his carburetor and coming to a halt. It was a costly breakdown as Redcar wiped out the deficit and turned it into a similar lead of their own. Lawson went even better in heat thirteen, not only beating King again, but also three-times winner Wright, the Bears captain having to be mindful of the determined effort that rider replacement taker Thomsen was delivering. Cook had good early ground in heat fourteen but lifted just at the wrong moment coming off the second turn and both Vuolas and Pijper went by him. Quickly Cook picked off Pijper and was on Vuolas's shoulder but just couldn't re-establish pole position over the Finn. Crucially that 4-2 for the home side gave them their biggest lead of the night - four points - leaving the Pirates needing to claim a 5-1 to take the meeting into a shoot-out, suggesting that Cook called it right at the very start. A great early battle saw Lawson get out in front and once he was sure that he had all the answers to Wright, tried to slow the pace sufficiently to allow Cook an opening, but Wright was in no mood to extend the night's action and defied every thing Cook tried, the Bears winning by just two on the night.

REDCAR 46
Charles Wright 3,3,3,1',2=12+1 (5)
Jacob Hook 1,R,0,RS=1 (3)
Jason Edwards 0,3,1',3=7+1 (4)
Antti Vuolas 1,0,2,3=6 (4)
Danny King 3,3,2,2,0=10 (5)
Jody Scott 2,0,0,RS=2 (3)
Ace Pijper 0,2',3,0,2',1=8+2 (6)
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POOLE 44
Richard Lawson 0,1,1',3,3,3=11+1 (6)
Tobias Thomsen 2,2,2,1,0=7 (5)
Lewis Kerr 3,2,1',1',R=7+2 (5)
Zach Cook 2',2,3,2,2,1=12+1 (6)
Rider Replacement
Paul Starke 3,1',0,1=5+1 (4)
William Cairns 1,0,1',0=2+1 (4)
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Ht 1: C.Wright, T.Thomsen, J.Hook, R.Lawson 4-2 4-2 [55.1]
Ht 2: P.Starke, J.Scott, W.Cairns, A.Pijper 2-4 6-6 [55.8]
Ht 3: L.Kerr, Z.Cook, A.Vuolas, J.Edwards 1-5 7-11 [53.9]
Ht 4: D.King, A.Pijper, R.Lawson, W.Cairns 5-1 12-12 [54.2]
Ht 5: J.Edwards, T.Thomsen, R.Lawson, A.Vuolas 3-3 15-15 [55.1]
Ht 6: C.Wright, L.Kerr, P.Starke, J.Hook [rtd] 3-3 18-18 [54.3]
Ht 7: D.King, Z.Cook, L.Kerr, J.Scott 3-3 21-21 [54]
Ht 8: A.Pijper, T.Thomsen, W.Cairns, J.Hook 3-3 24-24 [54.9]
Ht 9: Z.Cook, A.Vuolas, J.Edwards, P.Starke 3-3 27-27 [55.2]
Ht 10: C.Wright, Z.Cook, L.Kerr, A.Pijper 3-3 30-30 [55.4]
Ht 11: R.Lawson, D.King, T.Thomsen, J.Scott 2-4 32-34 [55]
Ht 12: J.Edwards, A.Pijper, P.Starke, L.Kerr [rtd] 5-1 37-35 [55.5]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, D.King, C.Wright, T.Thomsen 3-3 40-38 [55.6]
Ht 14: A.Vuolas, Z.Cook, A.Pijper, W.Cairns 4-2 44-40 [55.8]
Ht 15: R.Lawson, C.Wright, Z.Cook, D.King 2-4 46-44 [55.8]

SGB Referee Gary Allen
POOLE won toss and deferred choice to heat 15; REDCAR chose gates 1&3 |POOLE choose gates 2&4 in heat 15
League Points: REDCAR 2 POOLE 1