REPORT: Poole v Glasgow KOC Semi Final

27/08/25

Poole hold a 14 point lead at the halfway stage of the MaxiCab KO Cup semi-final following their 52-38 win over the Glasgow Tigers with Richard Lawson again in imperious form around Wimborne Road

The first few yards of the opening heat reminded Poole fans that their heroes would be in for a tough night as Chris Harris and guest Fraser Bowes were first out of the traps for the Tigers. But dramatically it all changed when Richard Lawson drove through in determined fashion off turn two and then Tobias Thomsen making his move for third going into turn three, both on the opening lap, from where the positions stood for the remainder of the heat. A replica score followed in the reserves heat as Will Cairns battled his way by the Tigers' second guest Dayle Wood and Paul Starke held third place, clear of Freddy Hodder. Early mechanical problems for Kerr, when sitting in third place was not what the Pirates wanted, but skipper Zach Cook had the beating of both Dan Thompson and Leon Flint to protect Poole's early lead. Neither Cairns nor Hodder could remain motionless for long enough and picked up warnings for their indiscretions, with the start called back. Anders Rowe was slow off the start and had his work cut out for a lap just trying to pass Hodder for a point (paid for two) and that allowed Howarth to establish a comfortable victory. Poole's early lead was wiped out when Harris and Bowes picked up a relatively uncontested 5-1 in the fifth heat. (15-15).

Heat six took a while to get a result as twice Dayle Wood felt the hardness of the first turn, on both occasions an unsatisfactory start being ruled. Lawson took the initiative at the third attempt and Thomsen made a great move to oust Howarth at turn two, but a brilliant last lap recovery from the former Bournemouth Buccaneer saw Howarth deny Poole a 5-1 as he swept by Thomsen on the dash to the flag. Rowe, desperate to get amongst the points appeared to attack a gap that made the eye of a needle look huge and, in doing so, inadvertently baulked Starke who was on the outside behind him. The misjudgement allowed the Tigers to pull away and the resulting 5-1 from Thompson and Flint wiped out Poole's advantage into a lead of their own. Bowes was too keen to get heat eight going and went through the tapes, incurring a 15 metre penalty. Cairns demonstrated good patience as he stalked second place Hodder, making the telling move on the third lap to sneak up the inside line as they headed towards the third turn, sealing a 5-1 and restoring Poole's lead. There were hopes, as the riders attacked turn one, that a follow-up 5-1 would be on the cards for Poole but Howarth went by Kerr with relative ease, although had no hope of catching Cook. Heat ten had the rare sight of Richard Lawson sprawled on the track at the first turn, squeezed out, but as with previous first turn incidents was eligible for an all four back re-start. As he made a wide move to sweep by Flint it looked as if he picked up Thomsen in his slip-stream and as they headed down the back straight it was the two Pirates with the advantage that they had no intention of relinquishing. (34-26)

Another first turn faller, this time Bowes, and again all four back for the re-run which saw Harris runaway with the race win, but Starke and Rowe protected Poole's lead by holding Bowes at bay. Cairns seemed to lack power off the start of heat twelve and that cost him dearly. Kerr was able to split the Tigers to mitigate the visitors' heat advantage to a 2-4. Rowe appeared to make a decent gate in heat thirteen along with Lawson, but he drifted too far wide and lost momentum, Howarth and Harris proving too much of a challenge to chase, so Poole had to settle for Lawson's fourth win of the night. Leon Flint was first away in heat fourteen but Cook had the measure of him at the third turn, taking an inside entry and establishing the lead, but Flint fell and the verdict of the cause of the stoppage had to be validated against the film footage. It was determined that Flint was the cause of his own downfall and was disqualified, which allowed Cook and Starke to take Poole's lead into double figures with a 5-1. Cook and Lawson were pitched against Harris and Howarth in the final race and when Lawson glanced back he was relieved to see his partner in second place and doing a good job of fending off the mighty H's. To a standing ovation from a packed grandstand the Pirates crossed the line for a fourth maximum heat score and a handy, but not conclusive, first leg fourteen point advantage.

POOLE 52
Richard Lawson 3,3,3,3,3=15 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 1,1,3,2'=7+1 (4)
Lewis Kerr R,0,1,2=3 (4)
Zach Cook 3,1,3,3,2'=12+1 (5)
Anders Rowe 1',1,1',0=3+2 (4)
Paul Starke 1,0,2,2'=5+1 (4)
William Cairns 3,2,2',0=7+1 (4)
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GLASGOW 38
Chris Harris 2,3,3,2,0=10 (5)
Fraser Bowes 0,2',0EH,0=2+1 (4)
Dan Thompson 2,3,0,3=8 (4)
Leon Flint 1',2',1,FD=4+2 (4)
Kyle Howarth 3,2,2,1',1=9+1 (5)
Dayle Wood 2,0,0,1,1=2 (5)
Freddy Hodder 0,0,1,RS=3 (3)
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Ht 1: R.Lawson, C.Harris, T.Thomsen, F.Bowes 4-2 4-2 [59.76]
Ht 2: W.Cairns, D.Wood, P.Starke, F.Hodder 4-2 8-4 [60.85]
Ht 3: Z.Cook, D.Thompson, L.Flint, L.Kerr [rtd] 3-3 11-7 [60.93]
Ht 4: K.Howarth, W.Cairns, A.Rowe, F.Hodder 3-3 14-10 [60.86]
Ht 5: C.Harris, F.Bowes, Z.Cook, L.Kerr 1-5 15-15 [61.04]
Ht 6: R.Lawson, K.Howarth, T.Thomsen, D.Wood 4-2 19-17 [60.74]
Ht 7: D.Thompson, L.Flint, A.Rowe, P.Starke 1-5 20-22 [61.01]
Ht 8: T.Thomsen, W.Cairns, F.Hodder, F.Bowes[15m handicap] 5-1 25-23 [60.94]
Ht 9: Z.Cook, K.Howarth, L.Kerr, D.Wood 4-2 29-25 [60.17]
Ht 10: R.Lawson, T.Thomsen, L.Flint, D.Thompson 5-1 34-26 [60.73]
Ht 11: C.Harris, P.Starke, A.Rowe, F.Bowes 3-3 37-29 [60.86]
Ht 12: D.Thompson, L.Kerr, D.Wood, W.Cairns 2-4 39-33 [60.38]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, C.Harris, K.Howarth, A.Rowe 3-3 42-36 [60.84]
Ht 14: Z.Cook, P.Starke, D.Wood, L.Flint [fell exc] 5-1 47-37 [60.9]
Ht 15: R.Lawson, Z.Cook, K.Howarth, C.Harris 5-1 52-38 [61.63]

SGB Referee Christina Turnbull