RESULT: Poole Pirates v Oxford Cheetahs (Championship)

Poole Pirates just about prevailed in a tough encounter against the Oxford Cheetahs, Richard Lawson scoring an infallible fifteen point maximum, as Poole secured a 48-42 victory.

Oxford have developed the knack of having an in-form reserve when they visit Wimborne Road and they were clearly thankful that there was an early postponement of a Danish leaguue fixture, which allowed them to include Francis Gusts at number seven for this SGB Cab Direct Championship visit.

Showing every intent of of repeating their BSN triumph of earlier in the season, the Cheetahs, inspired by Gusts, kept the Pirates on a very tight rein throughout his meeting. 

Heat one was pulled back after Richard Lawson and Sam Masters tried to negotiate the first turn on the same piece of track and at the second attempt, although Tobias Thomsen wasn't quite as sharp as he had been first time of asking, Lawson was away and was in no mood to hang around, determined to get clear of Masters. The visiting number one passed Thomsen and the race soon settled into its pattern. Poole's advantage was wiped out through Gusts and Luke Killeen making excellent get-aways in heat two, and then Mitch McDiarmid denied Poole the chance of making the pendulum swing fully when he split Zach Cook from leader Lewis Kerr in heat three. Two riders who, initially, had been expected to miss this contest, combined for a strong start to heat four, but Gusts couldn't hold position under a determined ride from Anders Rowe. Jonas Knudsen, who like Gusts had been due in Denmark took a fine victory. Zach Cook was pacy out of the traps in heat five and in a personal best time of 2025 (59.93 seconds) he put distance between himself and Masters who had been able to get by Kerr. (15-15)

Thomsen had to be determined and gutsy to keep out Gusts, left to fight the battle for second as Lawson was not waiting for anyone in heat six, but if Poole thought they were going to be able to build a decent cushion, they were mistake as Oxford's response was a brace of 4-2 advantages. Kerr and Cook were too strong for Killeen and Knudsen in heat nine and with Thomsen adamant that he wasn't going to record another nil score (as he had done in heat eight) he almost got by second-placed Kennedy, surprisingly McDiarmid the four lap backmarker.  Having to settle for third place thought, Thomsen had done enough to give Poole their biggest advantage - six points - with just one third of the meeting left to race (33-27).

Masters cleverly blocked Rowe's chosen inside challenge in heat eleven, which allowed Gusts time to establish an unassailable lead and that advantage Poole had held was drastically reduced to just two points. Kerr ensured that there would be nothing lost from heat twelve, in what proved to be the first of just two shared heats all meeting. Lawson was awesome again out front as the eyes fell on Rowe who made a crucial pass on Knudsen to give Poole a four point lead. Cook made a superb start but came under double assault from Gusts and McDiarmid, but he was up for the challenge and just shrugged them off inching Poole closer to another league win if they could avoid conceding a 5-1 in heat fifteen, a score that would have required a super heat to determine which side would collect a second point. Cook was chosen to defend the heat along with unbeaten Lawson, the pair having to face Gusts and Masters. For the third time on the night, the tapes malfunctioned forcing a recall, Oxford more than a little frustrated this time as they had made the first turn clear of Lawson. Masters appeared to have got away the second time but Lawson found the line to accelerate by him allowing Poole fans a sigh of relief knowing their side had got over the line, although Cook tried all he could muster to catch Masters,  but had to settle with just a six points advantage to take to Oxford in the quest for the bonus.

POOLE 48
Richard Lawson 3,3,3,3,3=15 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 1,2',0,1=4+1 (4)
Lewis Kerr 3,1,3,3=10 (4)
Zach Cook 1,3,2',3,1=10+1 (5)
Anders Rowe 2,2,1,1=6 (4)
Paul Starke 1,0,0,RS=1 (3)
William Cairns 0,0,2,0,R=2 (5)

OXFORD 42
Sam Masters 2,2,2',2,2=10+1 (5)
Cameron Heeps 0,0,1,RS=1 (3)
Zaine Kennedy 0,1,2,1'=4+1 (4)
Mitch McDiarmid 2,3,0,1'=6+1 (4)
Jonas Knudsen 3,R,0,0=3 (4)
Luke Killeen 2',1,1,2=6+1 (4)
Francis Gusts 3,1,3,3,2,0=12 (6)

Ht 1: R.Lawson, S.Masters, T.Thomsen, C.Heeps 4-2 4-2 [60.25]
Ht 2: F.Gusts, L.Killeen, P.Starke, W.Cairns 1-5 5-7 [61.23]
Ht 3: L.Kerr, M.McDiarmid, Z.Cook, Z.Kennedy 4-2 9-9 [61.22]
Ht 4: J.Knudsen, A.Rowe, F.Gusts, W.Cairns 2-4 11-13 [61.64]
Ht 5: Z.Cook, S.Masters, L.Kerr, C.Heeps 4-2 15-15 [59.93]
Ht 6: R.Lawson, T.Thomsen, L.Killeen, J.Knudsen [rtd] 5-1 20-16 [61.08]
Ht 7: M.McDiarmid, A.Rowe, Z.Kennedy, P.Starke 2-4 22-20 [62.01]
Ht 8: F.Gusts, W.Cairns, C.Heeps, T.Thomsen 2-4 24-24 [60.64]
Ht 9: L.Kerr, Z.Cook, L.Killeen, J.Knudsen 5-1 29-25 [61.67]
Ht 10: R.Lawson, Z.Kennedy, T.Thomsen, M.McDiarmid 4-2 33-27 [60.47]
Ht 11: F.Gusts, S.Masters, A.Rowe, P.Starke 1-5 34-32 [60.78]
Ht 12: L.Kerr, L.Killeen, Z.Kennedy, W.Cairns 3-3 37-35 [61.18]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, S.Masters, A.Rowe, J.Knudsen 4-2 41-37 [60.97]
Ht 14: Z.Cook, F.Gusts, M.McDiarmid, W.Cairns [rtd] 3-3 44-40 [61.4]
Ht 15: R.Lawson, S.Masters, Z.Cook, F.Gusts 4-2 48-42 [61.37]

SGB Referee Wayne Jarvis and trainee Josh Marsh
POOLE won toss and chose gates 1&3 | OXFORD choose gates 1&3 in heat 15
League Points: POOLE 2 OXFORD 0

Meeting Reaction

Photo credit: Tony Hartmann and Liam Cockwell