Plymouth Gladiators v Poole Pirates

Poole took early control of this cup affair with, back fron injury Rory Schlein prevaiing over Gladiators' guest Richard Lawson in heat one as Zane Keleher backed up in third. It was a lead on which Poole steadily built with Plymouth only truly coming into their own over the final third of this first leg, to keep the tie alive.

In-form Gladiator reserve Alfie Bowtell withheld strong pressure from Ben Cook in heat two, a race that saww the hosts new signing Luke Ruddick seeningly lock up sufficently enough to distract Poole's Rising Star Danyon Hume early on but Hume recovred to ensure a heat share. Level gating by the Poole mid-order partnership of Steve Worrall and Stefan Nielsen extended the Pirates advantage before heat four produced two close finishes. Former Pirate captain Bjarne Pedersen nearly stole victory from current incumbent Danny King at the head of the race whilst behind Hume attempted to catch Ruddick on the line but with his wheel in the area it gave referee Wayne Jarvis a call to make and the verdict was in favour of the home Rising Star as another shared heat was notched up. 

Schlein made it two wins from his first two rides ever at the Coliseum, his heat five victory having to be earnt with a splendid sweep round the outside of Zach Cook and Dillon Ruml as they all navigated the first arc.
Richard Lawson withstood a brave effort from Ben Cook who was on his shoulder down the back straight and had the young Aussie not had to deal with a lifting machine he might well have found the power to pull the move off but instead hard to settle for a shared heat siz with partner Danny King following home in third.

A disqualification for Bowtell in heat seven after a third turn collision with Stefan Nielsen, left the home side reliant on skipper Pedersen alone, but Steve Worrall was having none of it and claimed his second race win of the night in as many starts. Pedersen had been distracted by the early attention of Nielsen, Poole going into a 25-17 advantage. 

A change by Plymouth saw Frenchman Steven Goret rested in heat eight in favour of Bowtell, a shrewd move on paper but Zane Keleher made an excellent start and must have been holding his breath all the way to the flag as it signalled his first ever UK race win and a promise of "more to follow". To make his maiden even sweeter, Hume backed up in second place and Poole held a 14 point lead, an advantage that was maintained following a processional heat 9 won by King.Stefan Nielsen received a starting warning in heat 10 as the riders were called back after an unsatisfacory first attempt to get it under way. That too ended in early curtailment as third placed Lawson, behind both Pirates, fell earning his disqualification and Worrall and Nielsen made no mistakes third time of asking leaving Goret picking up a point without challenge. 

Poole now held their biggest lead of the night, 16 points, with the score 38-22 in their favour, but Plymouth weren't prepared to throw in the towel just yet, after all there were 20 heats left of the tie at this stage.

Pedersen made the running in heat 11 but the focus was on Schlein battling to get by Bowtell, a task he succeeded in but not before clamping the youngster close to the fence as they made the final dash to the line. It was a move that led to a few exchanged comments between the pair of them but calmness quuckly ensued as they returned to their pit bays.
Worrall incurred the wrath of the refere for refusing to sit still at the start of heat 11 and then the Pirates mainstay had to work hard to try, unsuccessfully to reel the faster trapping Zach Cook in. It was Pedersen's turn to get a mark against his name in heat 13, again for moving too soon at the tapes but he put it behind him and partnered Lawson to a 5-1 trimming the deficit to 10 at 34-44. 

An excellent ride though by Hume to nip in for a heat advantage point gave Poole a bit more breathing room before Lawson and Pedersen then partnered up for a second 5-1 in three heats, giving the Gladiators the task of overcoming an 8 point deficit if they are to stop Poole progressing to the latter stages of the cup competition.

PLYMOUTH 41
R.Lawson 2,3,FD,3,2'=10+1
S.Goret 0,0,1=1
Z.Cook 1,2,1',3=7+1
D.Ruml 0,1',2,2=5+1
B.Pedersen 2,2,3,2',3=12+1
A.Bowtell 3,FD,1,1,0,0=5
L.Ruddick 0,1',0=1+1

POOLE 49
R.Schlein 3,3,2,1,0=9
Z.Keleher 1,0,3,0=4
S.Worrall 3,3,3,2,1=12
S.Nielsen 2',1,2',3=8+2
D.King 3,1',3,0=7+1
B.Cook 2,2,0,1'=5+1
D.Hume 1',0,2',1=4+2

Ht 1:  R.Schlein,  R.Lawson,  Z.Keleher,  S.Goret 2-4  2-4 |50.5]
Ht 2:  A.Bowtell,  B.Cook,  D.Hume,  L.Ruddick 3-3  5-7 [51.88]
Ht 3:  S.Worrall,  S.Nielsen,  Z.Cook,  D.Ruml 1-5  6-12 [51.09]
Ht 4:  D.King,  B.Pedersen,  L.Ruddick,  D.Hume 3-3  9-15 [51.19]
Ht 5:  R.Schlein,  Z.Cook,  D.Ruml,  Z.Keleher 3-3  12-18 [50.65]
Ht 6:  R.Lawson,  B.Cook,  D.King,  S.Goret 3-3  15-21 [50.28]
Ht 7:  S.Worrall,  B.Pedersen,  S.Nielsen,  A.Bowtell  (Fell d/q) 2-4  17-25 [51.15]
Ht 8:  Z.Keleher,  D.Hume,  A.Bowtell,  L.Ruddick 1-5 18-30 [51.79]
Ht 9:  D.King,  D.Ruml,  Z.Cook,  B.Cook 3-3  21-33 [52.34]
Ht 10:  S.Worrall,  S.Nielsen,  S.Goret,  R.Lawson  (Fell d/q) 1-5  22-38 [51.22]
Ht 11:  B.Pedersen,  R.Schlein,  A.Bowtell,  Z.Keleher 4-2  26-40 [52.66]
Ht 12:  Z.Cook,  S.Worrall,  B.Cook,  A.Bowtell 3-3  29-43 [51.62]
Ht 13:  R.Lawson,  B.Pedersen,  R.Schlein,  D.King 5-1  34-44 [51.47]
Ht 14:  S.Nielsen,  D.Ruml,  D.Hume,  A.Bowtell 2-4  36-48 [52.75]
Ht 15:  B.Pedersen,  R.Lawson,  S.Worrall,  R.Schlein 5-1  41-49 [51.35]
Gates: POOLE won toss and chose gates 1&3 | PLYMOUTH took gates 1&3 in heat 15
Referee W.Jarvis
Rider of the Night: Steve Worrall