Result:Glasgow v Poole

Although they took the Glasgow Tigers to the wire the Pirates were unable to secure the victory that could well have cemented their top spot, the Tigers winning 47-43 on the night

Poole opened perfectly when William Cairns made a terrific gate in heat one for a tapes to flag victory backed up by Richard Lawson who rapidly saw off any threat from Chris Harris, before heat two produced a good, intense, trading of places between Slater Lightcap and Freddy Hodder on the opening couple of laps and it was Hodder who made the telling one, although Lightcap refused to give in without a fight. Meanwhile Kyle Newman was emphatic in defending off Sam Hagon early doors for the shared heat. But the Tigers jettisoned themselves ahead over the course of the next three heats, banking 4-2 advantages in each of them, but it wasn't through lack of effort whatsoever on the Pirates part. The heat five contest between Lawson and Anders Rowe was spell-bounding in itself as Lawson looked like a late night janitor doing his rounds as he kept locking all the doors on Rowe, but eventually Rowe found a line that Lawson couldn't cover and took the victory that, along with Hodder - in as a reserve for the tapes offending Kevin Juhl-Pedersen - holding out Cairns, gave the Tigers a 16-14 lead after 5 heats.

A Chris Harris cut-back on Zach Cook in heat six denied the Poole skipper his first win, having missed out to Leon Flint in his firs ride (heat four), but Lightcap held back Hagon well enough in the early stages to give Poole a share of the spools. An opportunity to get back, at least on level terms, went begging when Hodder missed the start in heat seven but by the second turn was supporting Flint to a lead-extending 5-1 at the expense of Kerr and Cairns. Good starts from Cairns and Newman in heat eight however, sent Glasgow the message that the Pirates don't lay down easily. Perhaps if Hagon and Grmek had not wasted quite so much time in racing themselves they might have had a better chance of influencing the outcome, especially given the manner in which Grmek rode the final two laps, but the Poole 5-1 was more than welcome as was the matching score from heat nine when Lightcap was more like "lightyear" as he "buzz"-ed past Juhl-Pedersen and Rowe to join Cook on a lead-taking 5-1. In heat ten, it was three abreast heading into turn three, Lightcap tightly packed in with the H-bomb pairing of Harris and Hodder, but was squeezed out on the fourth turn and the meeting lead switched back to the Tigers (31-29).

As with the opener, Cairns was away well in heat eleven and initially Lawson was with him, but then Flint put pressure on Lawson and the gap between the Pirates widened. Lawson did well to second guess Flint's attack and the resulting 5-1 secured the bonus at least, putting Poole back two ahead on the night. Both Lightcap and Kerr got got well clear of Hodder but Rowe had the speed out front, and it was a nailed on shared heat in the twelfth. In heat thirteen, Flint went well wide but created enough speed down the back straight to take up the running. Lawson applied early pressure on Harris and then concluded with a daring wide run off final turn, but it was unable to stop the result the Tigers needed, a 5-1 to put themselves back in the driving seat by two points. Heat 14 was mysteriously called back after Hodder missed the start totally. But Kerr was away again at the second time of asking and Lightcap was all over the two Tigers. Hodder packed up leaving him just Juhl-Pedersen to concentrate on but, to no avail, nevertheless 4-2 for the Pirates levelled the meeting. The final heat was similar to thirteen but this time both Cook and Lawson had Harris in their sights but neither could get by Harris who didn't look over confident in having the pair of them breathing down his exhaust, but he was steadfast in his determination to defend his second place and so for the fourth time in a row on the travels Poole lost by just four points.

GLASGOW 47
Chris Harris 1,3,3,2',2'=11+2 (5)
Sam Hagon 0,0,0,RS=0 (3)
Anders Rowe 3,3,0,3=9 (4)
Kevin Juhl-Pedersen 1,XE,1,2=4 (4)
Leon Flint 3,3,1,3,3=13 (5)
Freddy Hodder 3,1,2',2',0,0,R=8+2 (7)
Anze Grmek 0,1,1,RS=2 (3)

POOLE 43
Richard Lawson 2',2,2',1,0=7+2 (5)
William Cairns 3,0,0,3,3=9 (5)
Lewis Kerr 2,1,0,1',3=7+1 (5)
Rider Replacement
Zach Cook 2,2,3,0,1=8 (5)
Slater Lightcap 2,0,1',2',1,2,1=9+2 (7)
Kyle Newman 1',0,2',RS=3+2 (3)
.
Ht 1:  W.Cairns, R.Lawson, C.Harris, S.Hagon 1-5 1-5 [57.05]
Ht 2:  F.Hodder, S.Lightcap, K.Newman, A.Grmek 3-3 4-8 [57.66]
Ht 3:  A.Rowe, L.Kerr, K.Juhl-Pedersen, S.Lightcap 4-2 8-10 [56.65]
Ht 4:  L.Flint, Z.Cook, A.Grmek, K.Newman 4-2 12-12 [57.34]
Ht 5:  A.Rowe, R.Lawson, F.Hodder, W.Cairns, K.Juhl-Pedersen [tapes exc] 4-2 16-14 [57.96]
Ht 6:  C.Harris, Z.Cook, S.Lightcap, S.Hagon 3-3 19-17 [57.59]
Ht 7:  L.Flint, F.Hodder, L.Kerr, W.Cairns 5-1 24-18 [58.45]
Ht 8:  W.Cairns, K.Newman, A.Grmek, S.Hagon 1-5 25-23 [58.7]
Ht 9:  Z.Cook, S.Lightcap, K.Juhl-Pedersen, A.Rowe 1-5 26-28 [58.2]
Ht 10:  C.Harris, F.Hodder, S.Lightcap, L.Kerr 5-1 31-29 [58.52]
Ht 11:  W.Cairns, R.Lawson, L.Flint, F.Hodder 1-5 32-34 [58.44]
Ht 12:  A.Rowe, S.Lightcap, L.Kerr, F.Hodder 3-3 35-37 [58.64]
Ht 13:  L.Flint, C.Harris, R.Lawson, Z.Cook 5-1 40-38 [58.2]
Ht 14:  L.Kerr, K.Juhl-Pedersen, S.Lightcap, F.Hodder [rtd] 2-4 42-42 [59.24]
Ht 15:  L.Flint, C.Harris, Z.Cook, R.Lawson 5-1 47-43 [58.79]

SGB Referee Mr Michael Breckon 
Photo credit Liam Cockwell