REPORT: Glasgow Tigers 45 Poole Pirates 45

A heat one, turn two, overtake by Craig Cook on Danny King, with the Pirates only sharing the heat because home guest Justin Sedgmen failed to travel the distance to the first turn before his bike packed up,  followed by the Tigers reserves of Broc Nicol and Connor Bailey banking a heat two 5-1 the Pirates were given early warning that they needed to be on top form if they were to get anything from this match.

For the next four heats though it was 'visitors only' taking the chequered flag, Steve Worrall the first to do so after he shrugged off former Pirates Ben Basso and Danyon Hume who were buzzing around him in the early phase of heat three. Richard Lawson's route to victory was far more straightforward with an impressive tapes to flag effort  in heat four before King went high, wide and handsome in heat five, powering his way to the front leaving Basso to do all the chasing.
In bright Scottish sunshine lighting up heat six, Richard Lawson saw off Sedgmen on the first turn, way behind at the back was King of Ashfield, Craig Cook, with Drew Kemp's stand-in Dillon Ruml defiant for three laps. But Cook made his way into third place but he hadn't countered for the determination of the Poole guest and the Ruml superbly snatched the point on the line, thus halving the deficit at 19-17. Glasgow opted to go with their reserve duo when Ulrich Ostergaard infringed at the tapes and it was a sublime choice as Bailey (drafted in) was happy to tuck in behind Nicol for their second maximum score of the night. 
Zach Cook demonstrated he had been studying the lines as he used the first turn banking to perfection in heat seven to charge out into the distance for his first true big points of the meeting. Ruml was giving Sedgmen a tough time but this time there was no point snatching and he had to settle for third place, but nevertheless an important Poole 4-2. 
For the first time in the evening Basso had clear daylight ahead of him for more than half a lap of heat nine, and looked to be collecting his first win until Lawson rode a superb final turn and snatched victory, and had this been a horse race meeting there would have been a photograph of the finish posted in the paddock! Again, Ruml was doing a good job by claiming a point, those back-to-back 4-2's helping Poole to limit the difference to just two points.
Heat ten had Worrall doing the work on the first turn to take control and whilst Ben Cook was trying to make an impact, his insistence in staying low and tight for too long cost him a real chance of a point. An excellent second lap pass by Zach Cook in heat eleven was enough for the Pirates to inch ahead on the night, as he backed up win number two for King. Poole were flexing their muscles in the two post-interval heats as two solid passes by Worrall and Ruml successively in heat twelve ensured at least one league point would be coming South, provided the Pirates produced a finisher in at least two of the final three heats. 
So it was a vital strike by Ostergaard and Cook as they charged out of the tapes in heat thirteen and quickly pulled clear of King and Worrall. Now just two points, in Poole's favour separated the sides. To try and protect that margin, team manager Gary Havelock pulled Ben Cook out of heat fourteen, having been suitably impressed by Ruml's man-of-the-match efforts. He didn't disappoint either, as he battled fervently to split the two Tigers and gain the American bragging rights as he held Nicol at bay.
Heat fifteen arrived with the scores as they were before a wheel had been turned - all level. Poole could achieve just one point, two points or three points depending on the outcome so the stage was set. The performers delivered.  The home fans knew that the meeting win had escaped them when back-marker Ostergaard packed up mid-distance, but everyone was treated to an enthralling heat with Cook and Lawson slugging it out turn by turn. To the relief of the Glaswegians it was their man that made the final pass and they avoided defeat, but the night belonged to the Pirates who made up ground in the league table by banking the bonus for an away draw. 

GLASGOW 45
C.Cook 3,0,2,2',3=10+1 (5)
J.Sedgmen R,2,2,1'=5+1 (4)
B.Basso 2,2,2,1=7 (4)
D.Hume 1',1',0,3=5+2 (4)
U.Ostergaard 1',XE,1,3,R=5+1 (5)
B.Nicol 3,3,0,1=7 (4)
C.Bailey 2',2,2',0,0=6+2 (5)
.
POOLE 45
D.King 2,3,3,1=9 (4)
Z.Cook 1',0,3,2'=6+2 (4)
S.Worrall 3,1,3,3,1'=11+1 (5)
B.Cook 0,0,0,RS=0 (3)
R.Lawson 3,3,3,0,2=11 (5)
D.Ruml 1,1',1,1,2',2=8+2 (6)
N.Ablitt 0,0,RS,0=0 (3)
.
Ht 1:  C.Cook, D.King, Z.Cook, J.Sedgmen [rtd] 3-3 3-3 [59.32]
Ht 2:  B.Nicol, C.Bailey, D.Ruml, N.Ablitt 5-1 8-4  [59.84]
Ht 3:  S.Worrall, B.Basso, D.Hume, B.Cook 3-3 11-7  [58.97]
Ht 4:  R.Lawson, C.Bailey, U.Ostergaard, N.Ablitt 3-3 14-10 [59.27]
Ht 5:  D.King, B.Basso, D.Hume, Z.Cook 3-3 17-13 [59.27]
Ht 6:  R.Lawson, J.Sedgmen, D.Ruml, C.Cook 2-4 19-17 [58.63]
Ht 7:  B.Nicol, C.Bailey, S.Worrall, B.Cook, U.Ostergaard [tapes exc] 5-1 24-18 [59.9]
Ht 8:  Z.Cook, J.Sedgmen, D.Ruml, C.Bailey 2-4 26-22 [59.61]
Ht 9:  R.Lawson, B.Basso, D.Ruml, D.Hume 2-4 28-26 [59.95]
Ht 10:  S.Worrall, C.Cook, J.Sedgmen, B.Cook 3-3 31-29 [60.05]
Ht 11:  D.King, Z.Cook, U.Ostergaard, B.Nicol 1-5 32-34 [59.31]
Ht 12:  S.Worrall, D.Ruml, B.Basso, C.Bailey 1-5 33-39 [59.81]
Ht 13:  U.Ostergaard, C.Cook, D.King, R.Lawson 5-1 38-40 [60.04]
Ht 14:  D.Hume, D.Ruml, B.Nicol, N.Ablitt 4-2 42-42 [60.72]
Ht 15:  C.Cook, R.Lawson, S.Worrall, U.Ostergaard [rtd] 3-3 45-45 []
REFEREE:  Dave Watters 
POOLE won toss and chose gates 1&3 | GLASGOW choose gates 1&3 in heat 15  
League Points: GLASGOW 1 POOLE 2