Peterborough Panthers v Poole Pirates

Scintillating sunshine speedway was the East of England's fare and if there is to be a better meeting than this one this season then that will have to be a true epic. 
 

Hardly a race went by without some piece of passing and once again the No.1 Carpet Cleaning Pirates staged a revival of sorts and had it not been for a slice of cruel luck for Brady Kurtz the final result could easily have gone Poole's way. 
Kurtz was seeking a way by fellow Aussie Rohan Tungate to join race leader Jack Holder in heat 13 when he ran out of track room and crashed heavily. Had Kurtz been able to make the attempted pass cleanly then the Pirates could quite possibly have made it three on-the-bounce maximums after trailing by six at the heat ten interval stage. 
But as so often happens in re-run heats, the outcome can prove so different. Holder did make the gate but he had no answer to the double assault from Hans Andersen and Tungate, the maximum score going the Panthers way to re-establish their lead. 

The home side weren't able to hold on to that advantage for long as Pirates' guest Dimitri Berge made a brilliat start to heat 14 and for much of it he had company from Josh Grajczonek, until Charles Wright put in a brilliant last lap and with the chequered flag beckoning he just managed to squeeze by Grajczonek to level the scores.  

The consequences of heat 13 came back to bite Poole again as Kurtz was nursing a shoulder injury so Neil Middleditch had to re-think his options for a partner to Jack Holder, a shoe-in for the nomination. The Poole number one had made a swift pass on Hans Andersen then concentrated all his efforts on trying to oust Bradley Wilson-Dean but without success in the first race of the night. Holder then figured prominently in his second outing, another heat that had a Poole 5-1 written on it for much of its duration as Richie Worrall took early control, but then was passed by Panthers' new boy Scott Nicholls and the in-form Charles Wright.

Young Jack then partnered Kurtz to the Pirates' first 5-1 in heat 11, Kurtz having been drafted in at the expense of Worrall under the tactical substitute rule.

So, for that final heat decider he went to tapes with Poole skipper Josh Grajczonek but the duo couldn't quite make it another memorable comeback, but it took an extremely brave ride from Andersen scraping the boards as he looked for that little bit of extra drive he needed to round Holder. A mission that the former Pirate managed to pull off thus securing the win for the Panthers and a fine way to finish an incident-packed meeting.

PETERBOROUGH 46
H.Andersen 1,3,1',3,3=11+1
B.Wilson-Dean 3,1,1',2=7+1
S.Nicholls 0,2,0,0=2
C.Wright 3,1',3,2,1=10+1
R.Tungate 1',2',1,2'=6+3
A.Summers 2,3,0,0=5
J.Bates 0,2,2,1=5

POOLE 44
J.Holder 2,3,2',1,2=10+1
R.Worrall 0,0,0
D.King 1',1,0,2'=4+2
J.Grajczonek 2,0,3,1,0=6
B.Kurtz 3,2,2,3,FD=10
N.Covatti 3,0,1',3=7+1
D.Berge 1,0,3,3=7

Ht 1:  B.Wilson-Dean,  J.Holder,  H.Andersen,  R.Worrall 4-2  4-2 |59.3]
Ht 2:  N.Covatti,  A.Summers,  D.Berge,  J.Bates 2-4  6-6 [58.3]
Ht 3:  C.Wright,  J.Grajczonek,  D.King,  S.Nicholls 3-3  9-9 [59]
Ht 4:  B.Kurtz,  J.Bates,  R.Tungate,  D.Berge 3-3  12-12 [58.1]
Ht 5:  J.Holder,  S.Nicholls,  C.Wright,  R.Worrall 3-3  15-15 [59.4]
Ht 6:  H.Andersen,  B.Kurtz,  B.Wilson-Dean,  N.Covatti 4-2  19-17 [58.4]
Ht 7:  A.Summers,  R.Tungate,  D.King,  J.Grajczonek 5-1  24-18 [59]
Ht 8:  D.Berge,  J.Bates,  B.Wilson-Dean,  R.Worrall 3-3 27-21 [59.3]
Ht 9:  C.Wright,  B.Kurtz,  N.Covatti,  S.Nicholls 3-3  30-24 [58.7]
Ht 10:  J.Grajczonek,  B.Wilson-Dean,  H.Andersen,  D.King 3-3  33-27 [59.6]
Ht 11:  B.Kurtz  (TS),  J.Holder,  R.Tungate,  A.Summers 1-5  34-32 [59.2]
Ht 12:  N.Covatti,  D.King,  J.Bates,  S.Nicholls 1-5  35-37 [59.7]
Ht 13:  H.Andersen,  R.Tungate,  J.Holder,  B.Kurtz  (Fell d/q) 5-1  40-38 [59.4]
Ht 14:  D.Berge,  C.Wright,  J.Grajczonek,  A.Summers 2-4  42-42 [59.9]
Ht 15:  H.Andersen,  J.Holder,  C.Wright,  J.Grajczonek 4-2  46-44 [59.5]
Gates: PETERBOROUGH won toss and chose gates 1&3 | POOLE took gates 2&4 in heat 15
Referee Barbara Horley
League Points PETERBOROUGH 3 POOLE 1
Rider of the Night: Jack Holder