REPORT: GLASGOW TIGERS v POOLE PIRATES - MaxiCab KO Cup 2nd Leg

Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates defied the odds of being without talisman Richard Lawson, and losing the services of Lewi Kerr with a hip injury, to secure their place, yet again, in the MaxiCab Knockout Cup Final.

Jonas Jeppesen wasted no time in suggesting he would be an adequate replacement for Richard Lawson, as he produced a storming ride to claim the scalp of Chris 'Bomber' Harris in the opening race, no mean feat at all around Ashfield. If the guest was impressive then teenager William Cairns comfortably matched him in heat two as he sped clear from the tapes to open his account with a win and secure the Pirates a bit of breathing space given that Paul Starke was backing up in third. Poole were well beaten in heat three even before Lewis Kerr reared ugly on the pit turn of lap two, soon becoming apparent that his further involvement in this tie was over as he underwent extensive medical attention. That 5-1 to the Tigers allowed them to begin chipping away at the first leg deficit but Anders Rowe emphatically denied them any such luxury in heat four. Will Cairns appeared to lose a bit of power entering in to the first turn and that clearly stopped him from making any impression this time around on Freddy Hodder.  So often in recent seasons, Poole have benefitted from a solid engine room pairing, but on this occasion it was the Tigers mid-duo of Flint and Thompson who conspired again for another 5-1 as a further four point were wiped off that first leg margin. (18-12 agg 46-54)

Crucially in heat six, Anders was able to recover from being on the wrong end of a 5-1 to split Harris and Tigers' guest Michael Palm-Toft but slowly the Tigers tails were beginning to rise. Needing a heat advantage to halt the progress Poole looked to Cairns as cover for the ruled out Kerr and the lad responded with a third place, skipper Zach Cook taking his "armband" duties seriously with an excellent ride under pressure from Kyle Howarth. Poole were set fair for a huge 5-1 advantage through Thomsen and two-on-the-trot Cairns when heat eight was halted as Hodder drifted too wide, clipped the fence, lost control and falling in the immediate path of Palm-Toft. Fortunately both riders were able to return to the pits unaided, but only to the decision that, rightfully, the heat had been awarded and Poole had brought the night's score back to just two behind. In to the fray came that deadly combination of Flint and Thompson who led Rowe a bit of a merry dance for another 5-1. There was a piece of genuine Bomber brilliance in heat ten as he superbly went round both Cook and Cairns at the fourth turn of the opening lap of heat ten, but disappointed that they allowed him the room, the Pirates were content enough to prevent the Tigers from being able to reduce any of the aggregate margin, which was eight (33-27 agg 71-79).

Heat 11 delivered two races in one; Jeppesen and Howarth were battling for Pole whilst Thomsen and Hodder were scrapping away for third. In both instances it was the Pirate that prevailed as Poole moved into the decade for the night that they needed to be in, namely the thirties, with 39 the ultimate minimum goal, and knowing that they effectively needed to keep a 5-1 for the Tigers off the card. Split from Flint for the first time, Dan Thompson kept his unbeaten night going, leading home Thomsen, who did well to split his homophone from Hodder who had to work hard to keep Cairns at bay. Jeppesen rode a super first lap, leading Harris but the Dane had no answers to Bomber's second lap assault. Critically though, he refused to leave any opportunity for Howarth to exploit and the Tigers were in desperate need of a brace of 5-1's to finish on. Cairns was having none of it as he produced a ride that secured Poole's place in the final, holding off Hodder whilst Cook was trying in vain to lower strike out Flint's unbeaten night. He couldn't manage that in heat fourteen but did so in style in heat fifteen, along with that of Dan Thompson, although Jeppesen's night finished with a nasty fall that left him sore but safe in the knowledge that he had certainly contributed to the Pirates' success.

GLASGOW 49
Chris Harris 2,3,3,3=11 (4)
Michael Palm-Toft 1',1,1,RS=3+1 (3)
Dan Thompson 3,2',2',3,1'=11+3 (5)
Leon Flint 2',3,3,3,2=13+1 (5)
Kyle Howarth 2,2,2,1=7 (4)
Max Perry 0,0,0,RS,RS=0 (3)
Freddy Hodder 2,1',FD,0,1,0=4+1 (6)
.
POOLE 41
Jonas Jeppesen 3,1,3,2,FD=9 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 0,0,3,1,2=6 (5)
Lewis Kerr FD,NS,NS,NS=0 (1)
Zach Cook 1,3,2,2,3=11 (5)
Anders Rowe 3,2,1,0=6 (4)
Paul Starke 1,0,0,RS=1 (3)
William Cairns 3,0,1,2',1',0,1'=8+3 (7)
.
Ht 1: J.Jeppesen, C.Harris, M.Palm-Toft, T.Thomsen 3-3 3-3 [57.83]
Ht 2: W.Cairns, F.Hodder, P.Starke, M.Perry 2-4 5-7 [58.84]
Ht 3: D.Thompson, L.Flint, Z.Cook, L.Kerr [fell exc] 5-1 10-8 [58.76]
Ht 4: A.Rowe, K.Howarth, F.Hodder, W.Cairns 3-3 13-11 [58.97]
Ht 5: L.Flint, D.Thompson, J.Jeppesen, T.Thomsen 5-1 18-12 [58.3]
Ht 6: C.Harris, A.Rowe, M.Palm-Toft, P.Starke 4-2 22-14 [57.96]
Ht 7: Z.Cook, K.Howarth, W.Cairns, M.Perry, L.Kerr [NS] 2-4 24-18 [59.09]
Ht 8: T.Thomsen, W.Cairns, M.Palm-Toft, F.Hodder [fell exc] 1-5 25-23 [awd]
Ht 9: L.Flint, D.Thompson, A.Rowe, P.Starke 5-1 30-24 [59.14]
Ht 10: C.Harris, Z.Cook, W.Cairns, M.Perry, L.Kerr [NS] 3-3 33-27 [58.55]
Ht 11: J.Jeppesen, K.Howarth, T.Thomsen, F.Hodder 2-4 35-31 [60.08]
Ht 12: D.Thompson, T.Thomsen, F.Hodder, W.Cairns, L.Kerr [NS] 4-2 39-33 [59.55]
Ht 13: C.Harris, J.Jeppesen, K.Howarth, A.Rowe 4-2 43-35 [58.92]
Ht 14: L.Flint, Z.Cook, W.Cairns, F.Hodder 3-3 46-38 [60]
Ht 15: Z.Cook, L.Flint, D.Thompson, J.Jeppesen [fell exc] 3-3 49-41 []

SGB Referee MR Dave Watters

GLASGOW won toss and chose gates 1&3 | POOLE choose gates 2&4 in heat 15

Post Meeting Reaction

Photo credit Tony Hartmann