GRAND PIRATES CONFIRM TOP SPOT

Poole took their race point tally to exactly 1000 points with a 52-38 success against second-placed Redcar Bears, a result that means Poole completed their regular league campaign with a 100% home record and secured top place in the league standings.

The three league points gained from that tenth home league win has put them out of reach of the three sides - Redcar, Glasgow and Leicester - that are left battling for the other automatic semi-final place and club skipper Danny King summed-up another excellent night for the Pirates by declaring "That is job done. We are top of the league and that was our target all along. What it doesn't mean though is that we can take anything for granted. We still haven't won the title yet and we will have to be on top of our game if we are going to be champions"

Of his own personal performance, dropping just a single point, King commented "Like I said before, I have found something that is working well right now and that is pleasing, but to be honest it is always about the team effort and we had a good performance tonight throughout the team."

King had the packed grandstand on their feet when he celebrated a sensational victory in heat 11, having missed the gate and needing to work really hard to find a way by Charles Wright. He not only squeezed by the former British champion but also swept Poole's guest Anders Rowe aside in the process. "I didn't mean to go round Anders to be honest, but I just had the drive and I had to keep the power on to make sure I completed the task of passing Charles."

The one blip on the Pirates evening was the forced withdrawal of exciting Dane Ben Basso after he took a heavy fall in heat eight, crashing into the first turn airfence and sustaining damage to his ribs, for the second time in a week having sustained a similar injury in the Danish play-offs. He had begun his evening with two race wins and was looking across for his partner Danyon Hume who was level with him as they entered the first turn together, and that glance seemed to make him lose control and left him heading for the barrier.

Fellow Pirate Ben Cook did well a heat later to stay on-board his machine as he lost control when under pressure from a chasing Michael Palm-Toft. Although Cook was able to get his front wheel down initially, he skidded towards the fence on the home straight, bounced off it, but all the time remaining on board his stead. 

Overall, though, the Pirates were well in control of this meeting with their three heat leaders dropping just five points between them, and they will now have to wait to see what the quarter finals bring before deciding their opponents in the play-off semi-finals.

Scorers:
POOLE 52, R.Schlein 8+2 (1,2',3,2'), B.Basso 6 (3,3,XD), S.Worrall 13 (3,3,3,3,1), B.Cook 2 (0,1,0,1), D.King 14 (3,2,3,3,3), A.Rowe 3+1 (1,0,2',0), D.Hume 6 (3,1,1,0,1)
REDCAR 38, C.Wright 5 (2,2,1,0), J.Sarjeant 2+1 (0,0,2',0), J.Allen 6+1 (1',1,2,2), L.Kerr 12+2 (2,3,1',1',3,2), M.Palm-Toft 6 (2,1,2,1), R.Kinsley 0 (0,0,0), J.Jenkins 7+1 (2,0,3,2',0)
 

Full match report and heat details here