PIRATES STUNG BY SHARP STARTING SCORPIONS

Having dished out plenty of heat advantages against opponents, Poole could barely buy one in their penultimate league fixture, as they came up against a sharp starting set of Scunthorpe Scorpions and consequently have yet to guarantee a place in the semi-final stages of the play-offs. 

Scunthorpe on the other hand, with a 54-30 victory fortified their hopes of a quarter final appearance as they dealt with conditions that were somewhat impaired, due to the pre-meeting rainfall, far better than the Pirates. 

Even when guest Ryan Douglas, a late call-up, became the first Poole race winner in heat five, he had to really work hard to get by his opposing guest, Kasper Andersen, at the first turn. Douglas had stepped into the breach, once his scheduled meeting at Redcar had been called-off, as cover for the isolating Rory Schlein who was forced to isolate following a positive Covid-19 test.

With Scorpion skipper Simon Lambert in good form, his position at reserve was used well and had three wins to his name by heat eight, two more than the whole of the Poole team had managed between them at that stage. Poole managed just one heat advantage from the fourteen heats raced, before the returning rain made conditions too unsafe to continue, but even that was gifted to them when British Champion Adam Ellis fell in heat eleven allowing tactical substitute Douglas and Steve Worrall to claim a 5-1. 

A dejected Poole promoter Dan Ford said after the meeting curtailment "it is hard to find any positives to take from what has been our poorest performance of the season. We weren't gating and conditions were not conducive for passing and so we paid the price. Fair play to Scunthorpe. Their boys seemed to want it more and they had all of them going. Our two Bens (Cook and Basso) really struggled to read the track on this, their first visit and I guess that made us vulnerable. "But we have got one home meeting left to make sure we finish in top position, and it is to the credit of the team that we are where we are and they have a very strong determination to stay there."

Scorers 
SCUNTHORPE 50, A.Ellis 5+1 (2',3,XD,0), T.Pijper 8+2 (1,2,2',1',2), K.Andersen (Guest) 9 (3,1,2,3), T.Jorgensen 12 (3,3,3,3), J.MacDonald 2 (1,0,XD,1), S.Lambert 14+2 (3,3,1,3,1,1',2')
POOLE 34, R.Douglas  (Guest) 10 (0,3,3,2,2), B.Basso 1 (1,0,0,XD), S.Worrall 9+1 (2,2,2',3), B.Cook 1+1 (0,1',0), D.King 8+1 (2,2,3,1'), D.Gilkes (Guest) 3+1 (2,1',XD,0), D.Hume 2 (0,0,1,1)
Full heat details and match report here