REPORT: Poole v Edinburgh

Poole will take a 24-point lead with them to Armadale on Friday after a powerful final five heats when they outscored Edinburgh 22-7.

A pacy start from Will Cairns was a solid enough opening but when Richard Lawson delivered a super move on Kye Thomson to convert Cairns' three points into a Poole 5-1 was a perfect way to get this semi-final tie under way. To the delight of the Poole faithful Kyle Newman was in a much hungrier mood than his football team (Tottenham Hotspur) had been the previous night as he scythed his way down the backstraight to take up the initiative from Mitchell Cluff. The Monarchs reserve was to be pushed further back when Slater Lightcap moved sweetly by him on the second lap and Poole had two big 5-1's already on the board. One of those was countered in a re-started heat three, called back due to early movement from both Cooper Rushen and Justin Sedgmen, the re-run not without its excitement, as Rushen made a first turn split on his fellow warned rider and Michele Castagna. But Sedgmen produced an even grittier ride and went back ahead of Rushen. Dan Thompson popped out the gate smartly in heat four and Zach Cook's opportunity to pass were thwarted somewhat when he produced and awkward wheelie at the end of the second lap. But he had Newman backing him up so Poole lost no ground and it was a similar outcome in heat five after Kerr had cleverly dispensed with Grahn's threat at the first turn. (17-13).

Being a semi-final it was no surprise that there were tensions at the gate and the start marshal took a long hard look at the encroachment between gates three and four, but allowed it to proceed. That meant the battle to the first turn by Cairns and Cluff had an extra edge to it, which Cairns capitalised on whilst Lawson was making headway out front, clear of threat from Dan Thompson.  Heat seven produced a great early battle between Lightcap and Sedgmen whilst Cook was getting the better of Castagna. Lightcap made a clever switch up the inside and held it but had to work hard. Edinburgh introduced Cluff as a reserve switch in place of Loftus and it had a look of inspiration about it as he was cleverly holding off the ncessant pressure from Newman, but on third lap he just slid out and gifted Newman the lead. Cairns tried hard to overcome Grahn on final lap but had to settle for the single point. Kerr made a beautiful start off gate 4 in heat nine but Dan Thompson made an even better one and although Kerr had plenty of speed he couldn't reel in the Monarch. Lawson was to retain his unbeaten tag - the only rider able to lay claim to that statistic- with a superb move around the first bend to blitz by Castagna. But the Monarchs had comfortable advantage for the minor placings (35-25).

The meeting was to take a massive final third twist which was sparked when Lightcap showed his quickness to join Cook at the front and had the protection of Cook workinf tirelessy to team ride him home, no mean feat with Thomson hot on their heels for the opening two laps. As it panned out, Thomson was deemed to have a faulty silencer as spotted by the refereree and so he was disqualified, giving the point to his partner Grahn. In heat twelve Poole fans were blessed with more good teamwork from their heroes, , Kerr keeping Sedgmen wide to create opening at fourth turn for Newman and they settled down for another lap before Kerr sped off knowing Newman had it in him to deny Sedgmen. Lawson missed the gate in heat thirteen but was still canny enough to be able to join Cook on a 5-1 with a great first turn move. Another heat gain looked on the cards as Lightcap was leading for two laps before his bike packed up on the third which allowed Edinburgh a reprise from the punishment with a 4-2 of their own, but in heat fifteen Cook read what was happening ahead of him going down the back straight, and he switched lines perfectly to join Lawson on a 5-1 passing Thompson in the process and establishing a 24 point lead to be defended in Scotland.

POOLE 57
Richard Lawson 2',3,3,2',3=13+2 (5)
William Cairns 3,1,1,0=5 (4)
Lewis Kerr 0,1',2,3=6+1 (4)
Cooper Rushen 1,2,1',2=6+1 (4)
Zach Cook 2,3,2',3,2'=12+2 (5)
Slater Lightcap 2',1,3,R=6+1 (4)
Kyle Newman 3,1',3,2'=9+2 (4)

EDINBURGH 33
Kye Thomson 1,3,X0,1=5 (4)
Jonatan Grahn 0,0,2,1=3 (4)
Justin Sedgmen 2',0,1',1=4+2 (4)
Michele Castagna 3,2,2,3,0=10 (5)
Dan Thompson 3,2,3,R,1=9 (5)
Mitchell Cluff 1,0,0,0,0=1 (5)
Jordy Loftus 0,0,RS,1=1 (3)

Ht 1:  W.Cairns, R.Lawson, K.Thomson, J.Grahn 5-1 5-1 [60.84]
Ht 2:  K.Newman, S.Lightcap, M.Cluff, J.Loftus 5-1 10-2 [61.31]
Ht 3:  M.Castagna, J.Sedgmen, C.Rushen, L.Kerr 1-5 11-7 [60.65]
Ht 4:  D.Thompson, Z.Cook, K.Newman, J.Loftus 3-3 14-10 [60.56]
Ht 5:  K.Thomson, C.Rushen, L.Kerr, J.Grahn 3-3 17-13 [60.35]
Ht 6:  R.Lawson, D.Thompson, W.Cairns, M.Cluff 4-2 21-15 [60.55]
Ht 7:  Z.Cook, M.Castagna, S.Lightcap, J.Sedgmen 4-2 25-17 [60.78]
Ht 8:  K.Newman, J.Grahn, W.Cairns, M.Cluff 4-2 29-19 [62.89]
Ht 9:  D.Thompson, L.Kerr, C.Rushen, M.Cluff 3-3 32-22 [61.81]
Ht 10:  R.Lawson, M.Castagna, J.Sedgmen, W.Cairns 3-3 35-25 [61.56]
Ht 11:  S.Lightcap, Z.Cook, J.Grahn, K.Thomson [exc] 5-1 40-26 [62.11]
Ht 12:  L.Kerr, K.Newman, J.Sedgmen, M.Cluff 5-1 45-27 [62.64]
Ht 13:  Z.Cook, R.Lawson, K.Thomson, D.Thompson [rtd] 5-1 50-28 [61.77]
Ht 14:  M.Castagna, C.Rushen, J.Loftus, S.Lightcap [rtd] 2-4 52-32 [62.42]
Ht 15:  R.Lawson, Z.Cook, D.Thompson, M.Castagna 5-1 57-33 [62.07]

SGB Referee Mr Chris Gay 
Photo credits: Tony Hartmann & Liam Cockwell