REPORT Poole v Redcar BSN Final

IT's Coming Home! The BSN trophy is back under Poole's care with a race to spare, Cooper Rushen doing enough in heat 14 to get Poole over the line in a tense night of racing. A final score of 52-38 gave Poole a 94-86 aggregate triumph bringing the trophy back after a year's absence.

Just as happened in the first leg, the opening race of the evening was called back due to a faller, this time Charles Wright victim of a tight first turn at which Poole pair Richard Lawson and William Cairns appeared to have the early advantage. But Wright made no errors in the re-start that had Lawson stuck at the back and Mulford's third place allowed Redcar to add to their pre-meeting advantage by another two points. Seemingly untroubled by his bound right hand Slater Lightcap came out of the first turn ahead of the pack sending Simon Lambert in the wrong direction. Kyle Newman also passed the two-time winner from the first leg but was unable to prevent Ace Pijper from splitting him from his teammate and so the tie went back to the position it was after the first leg. Jake Allen was led heat three but there were no opportunities offered to Jody Scott by either Lewis Kerr or Cooper Rushen despite his pressing efforts. Zach Cook took charge of heat and with Newman cruising by Edwards after the Redcar number 5 had tried to hassle Cook, the aggregate margin was slashed to just two points. So, when Mulford got away from both Pirates in heat five, Poole fans knew that any sort of Poole victory would in no way be a formality. (15-15; aggregate 63-57).

There were no mistakes whatsoever from Lawson in heat six as he showed Edwards how to pass, but the main focus was the contest between Cairns and Lambert who were scrapping furiously. It took a full two laps before Cairns could make third place his own and given by the rapidly closing down of Edwards he must have been frustrated that Lambert had delayed him for as loing as he did.  Cook stamped his over Allen but Lightcap trying an inside switch at turn one couldn't add to his opening ride points. The meeting, close as it was, just felt as if it needed spicing up and heat eight provided the necessary ingredients. Cairns and Mulford were arguing over territorial ownership, a battle that the UN would have had problems solving. Patiently along side them was Newman who decided to take a turn and reposition himself at the tapes but had chosed the wrong time to do as the countdown clock was close to expiring. By the time he addressed himself at the tapes again he was deemed to be out of time, a decision that did not go down well with the Poole fans. Lightcap came out to replace Newman and suddenly the Poole fans disgust turned into ferverent enthusiasm as the American quickly followed the tracks of the very fast trapping Cairns to secure a 5-1. Could Poole kick on from here? You bet, spurred on by the real buzz that filled Wimborne Road stadium Kerr showed true Pirates grit as he dug deep to pull clear from turn two and Rushen was not far behind to give Poole back-to-back 5-1's. Into heat ten and Allen's elbows were all over Cairns going into the first turn and there was some justification for a call-back but it never came and Cairns went in desperate pursuit as Lawson led. Allen refused to be passed and in latter stages Scott almost sneaked up on Cairns, but the consequent 4-2 did Poole's cause plenty of good. (36-24; 78-72).

Did Redcar have it in them to do what Poole did in the first leg by clawing back a twelve point deficit to take it to a last heat decider? Mulford had designs on trying it on as he ignored the reception he received when he went to dig in at gate four and he supported Wright (still unbeaten) to a 4-2. It checked the atmosphere slighty and nerves were clearly getting to the riders for there was plenty of pre-tapes release movement at the start of heat twelve. The rider that appered to move the furthers, although clearly after others had twitched, was Lambert but he was the one rider on the grid not to be shown a yellow card. There was stillness as they all waited for the release of the magnets but on came the red lights for a second time as Scott went down mid first bend as all four aimed for the same part of track. Once again it was all four back and once the race got going it was Newman who rode so brilliantly out front. Kerr and Scott were swapping places like Conservate Prime Ministers, but it was the youngster that just held out over Kerr. A shared heat not damaging to Poole but not quite what the Bears would have been hoping for. Just as in heat thirteen when Wright made it four for four but  crucially the other two point scoring places were occupied by Cook and Lawson, with Edwards out of the money.  The pressure levels were now on Redcar. They needed advantages now and that was something Rushen was determined not to allow them and he charged from the tapes to win emphatically from Allen and Pijper. That was it. Poole were home and dry. The trophy could look forward to being back on the South Coast where it had grown up. Just a one term sabbatical in the North East.  Poole were the BSN Series winners for the third time in the four year staging of the competition and we still had another heat to come. It witnessed a horrible looking fall for Allen on second lap when he went out very wide and setting up a potential consolation 5-1 for the Bears. Zach Cook was an innocent victim and also looked to take a heavy fall but both riders were quickly up and able to return to the pits under their own steam. Allen wasn't allowed out again as the primary cause of the stoppage and 

Lawson made the best of a second chance to stand in Wright's way, delighting himself in succeeding no doubt, for he once said he doesn't like to see an away rider maxing out against him.

Poole might have regained the title but for the second successive year were given a hard challenge by Redcar, but few could argue that the Pirates were, across the two legs deserved title winners.

POOLE 52
Richard Lawson 0,3,3,1',3=10+1 (4)
William Cairns 2,1,3,1=7 (4)
Lewis Kerr 2,0,3,1=6 (4)
Cooper Rushen 1',1,2',3=7+2 (4)
Zach Cook 3,3,2,2,1=11 (5)
Slater Lightcap 3,0,2',0,0=5+1 (5)
Kyle Newman 1,2',N2,3=6+1 (3)
.
REDCAR 38
Charles Wright 3,3,3,3,2=14 (5)
Jake Mulford 1,2',1,1=5+1 (4)
Jody Scott 0,1',0,2=3+1 (4)
Jake Allen 3,2,2,2,FD=9 (5)
Jason Edwards 1,2,1,0=4 (4)
Simon Lambert  0,0,0,0=0 (4)
Ace Pijper 2,0,0,1'=3+1 (4)
.
Ht 1:  C.Wright, W.Cairns, J.Mulford, R.Lawson 2-4 2-4 [61.2]
Ht 2:  S.Lightcap, A.Pijper, K.Newman, S.Lambert  4-2 6-6 [62.52]
Ht 3:  J.Allen, L.Kerr, C.Rushen, J.Scott 3-3 9-9 [61.81]
Ht 4:  Z.Cook, K.Newman, J.Edwards, A.Pijper 5-1 14-10 [61.16]
Ht 5:  C.Wright, J.Mulford, C.Rushen, L.Kerr 1-5 15-15 [60.17]
Ht 6:  R.Lawson, J.Edwards, W.Cairns, S.Lambert  4-2 19-17 [61.6]
Ht 7:  Z.Cook, J.Allen, J.Scott, S.Lightcap 3-3 22-20 [61.02]
Ht 8:  W.Cairns, S.Lightcap, J.Mulford, A.Pijper, K.Newman[exc 2 mins] 5-1 27-21 [61.09]
Ht 9:  L.Kerr, C.Rushen, J.Edwards, S.Lambert  5-1 32-22 [61.31]
Ht 10:  R.Lawson, J.Allen, W.Cairns, J.Scott 4-2 36-24 [61.38]
Ht 11:  C.Wright, Z.Cook, J.Mulford, S.Lightcap 2-4 38-28 [60.91]
Ht 12:  K.Newman, J.Scott, L.Kerr, S.Lambert  4-2 42-30 [62.32]
Ht 13:  C.Wright, Z.Cook, R.Lawson,  J.Edwards 3-3 45-33 [61.37]
Ht 14:  C.Rushen, J.Allen, A.Pijper, S.Lightcap 3-3 48-36 [62.02]
Ht 15:  R.Lawson, C.Wright, Z.Cook, J.Allen [fell exc] 4-2 52-38 [61.76]
SGB Referee Mrs Christina Turnbull 
Photo credit: Liam Cockwell