REPORT: Workington Comets 51 Poole Pirates 39

12/07/25

Workington came back from their recent BSPL Suspension to inflict a 12 point defeat on the Pirates

Considering their enforced absence from racing, the Comets began this league encounter in a rampaging mood. Troy Batchelor and Fraser Bowes dominated from the tapes in heat one, not allowing Richard Lawson any opportunity to hunt them down. In heat two it was a splendid ride from Vinnie Foord, firstly re-passing Will Cairns then catching Paul Starke on the final turn to set up a second maximum heat with Jacob Hook taking the win. The Comets Aussie pairing of Tate Zischke and Jye Etheridge were again sharper from the traps to give the scoreline an uncharacteristic feel of the Pirates being 15-3 down. It was territory that a Poole side had not been in since August 29th 2018 when King's Lynn mounted such as start in a Premiership encounter. Anders Rowe's debut ride at Northside was able to stop some of the rot, passing Foord and putting Antti Vuolas under great pressure on the run-in, but still Workington increased their lead. Lawson and Tobias Thomsen showed early signs in heat five that they might be able to claw one of those early conceded heat deficits, but Tate Zischke wasn't having any of it and remarkably sliced his way between the two Pirates to share the heat. (22-8)

Lawson was immediately back in the action in heat six, replacing Starke as a tactical substitute and this time the Rocketman delivered , but partner Rowe was caught up early on in the heat fending off Bowes, consequently losing ground on Batchelor. But nevertheless, Poole had their first race winner and first heat advantage chalked up. Vuolas put plenty of distance between himself and the mid-order Poole pairing of Zach Cook and Lewis Kerr in heat seven, whilst heat eight featured two races in one. Bowes looking good again but Thomsen was up to the challenge and took the win whilst Will Cairns claimed his first Poole away point when he staved off Foord. Hopes of back to back heat gains from Poole dissipated as Starke began to slip back after a decent gate, Rowe taking the win. In the tenth the pacesetter was Cook but Kerr found the double obstacle of Bowes and Batchelor too much and so Poole were only treading water, trailing by 10 (35-25).

Lawson superbly 'froze-out' the nickmamed 'Ice Man' - Vuolas, whilst Thomsen's defeat of Jacob Hook brought the margin between the two sides back into single figures for the first time since heat two. It was only briefly thus as Foord produced a splending ride, his typical 'never-say-die' attititude coming to the fore as he made his way by both Kerr and Starke to join Vuolas in another Comet's 5-1. With the Pirates needing to finish as Workington had begun the meeting - with three maximums - just to salvage a technical draw (and Golden Heat), it was the worse time for Rowe to miss the start. Lawson made the running but Vuolas and Etheridge kept Rowe out and Workington had recouped the two points they had been deducted for their rules infringment which had led to the club's temporary suspension. Cook produced a very good mid-race move in heat fourteen for his second win of the meeting but it was only to be shared heat. He was out again in heat fifteen, partnering Lawson who went on to deliver his fourth win, but all of Cook's hard work came undone as Zischke went under him after a lap and then Vuolas took a wider route on the next lap and try as he might, Zach just had no life left in his tyre to find any grip to hit back.

WORKINGTON 51
Troy Batchelor 3,2,1',1'=7+2 (4)
Fraser Bowes 2',0,2,2=6+1 (4)
Tate Zischke 2',3,2,3,2=12+1 (5)
Jye Etheridge 3,0,1',1'=5+2 (4)
Antti Vuolas 3,3,2,2,1'=11+1 (5)
Jacob Hook 3,0,0,2=5 (4)
Vinnie Foord 2',1,0,2'=5+2 (4)
.
POOLE 39
Richard Lawson 1,2,3,3,3,3=15 (6)
Tobias Thomsen 0,1',3,1=5+1 (4)
Lewis Kerr 1,1',0,0=2+1 (4)
Zach Cook 0,2,3,3,0=8 (5)
Anders Rowe 2,1,3,0=6 (4)
Paul Starke 1,TS,0,1=2 (3)
Will Cairns 0,0,1,0=1 (4)
.
Ht 1: T.Batchelor, F.Bowes, R.Lawson, T.Thomsen 5-1 5-1 [57.8]
Ht 2: J.Hook, V.Foord, P.Starke, W.Cairns 5-1 10-2 [58.3]
Ht 3: J.Etheridge, T.Zischke, L.Kerr, Z.Cook 5-1 15-3 [57.6]
Ht 4: A.Vuolas, A.Rowe, V.Foord, W.Cairns 4-2 19-5 [57.4]
Ht 5: T.Zischke, R.Lawson, T.Thomsen, J.Etheridge 3-3 22-8 [59.5]
Ht 6: R.Lawson, T.Batchelor, A.Rowe, F.Bowes, P.Starke [Tac Subbed] 2-4 24-12 [58.3]
Ht 7: A.Vuolas, Z.Cook, L.Kerr, J.Hook 3-3 27-15 [57.9]
Ht 8: T.Thomsen, F.Bowes, W.Cairns, V.Foord 2-4 29-19 [59.8]
Ht 9: A.Rowe, T.Zischke, J.Etheridge, P.Starke 3-3 32-22 [59.1]
Ht 10: Z.Cook, F.Bowes, T.Batchelor, L.Kerr 3-3 35-25 [59.1]
Ht 11: R.Lawson, A.Vuolas, T.Thomsen, J.Hook 2-4 37-29 [59]
Ht 12: T.Zischke, V.Foord, P.Starke, L.Kerr 5-1 42-30 [60.3]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, A.Vuolas, T.Batchelor, A.Rowe 3-3 45-33 [59.3]
Ht 14: Z.Cook, J.Hook, J.Etheridge, W.Cairns 3-3 48-36 [59.4]
Ht 15: R.Lawson, T.Zischke, A.Vuolas, Z.Cook 3-3 51-39 []