FORD'S CALL TO ARMS AS PIRATES GO DOWN BY TEN

Poole boss Danny Ford believes Thursday night will be a time for Poole fans to unite and provide that little bit extra to help the Poole Pirates over the line in their quest for a SGB Championship double as they seek to add the league title to the KO Cup crown won last week.

After losing their first match in seven starts on Tuesday in the Grand Final play-off first leg at Glasgow, the question remains as to whether that ten-point defeat is shallow enough to allow the Pirates to pull off what would be a memorable double in their first season back at second tier racing.

Ford commented "I cannot emphasise enough just how important our fans are going to be to us on Thursday. If they can amass in numbers and create that unique atmosphere that we have experienced on Final's night in past seasons, then we could be in a great position to haul back those ten points. Looking back on Tuesday all the lads had an inconsistent evening, some great wins picked up, from Basso's heat one victory to Rory Schlein's triumph in heat twelve, but along the way we also dropped points, twice when in potential 5-1 heat scoring positions. The lads know themselves that they need to raise their game for Thursday, but we have seen time and time again that the encouragement from our vociferous fans can spur them on that little bit extra. A great atmosphere, a rocking crowd, and our desire to win could all come together for a magical evening in the history of the club. This is one Thursday night when you won't want to be missing from Wimborne Road.

Poole lost the first leg 50-40 at Ashfield as Glasgow enjoyed a good second third to the meeting after the first five heats had the scores level at fifteen-a-piece. Poole fared the better of the two sides over the final five heats to limit the Tigers to a 10-point advantage, meaning the Pirates have a 51-point score to aim for on Thursday to claim the aggregate victory,

GLASGOW  50, C.Cook 11+1 (1',3,3,1,3), B.Nicol 6 (2,1,2,1), S.Jensen 3 (0,1,0,2), T.Brennan 10 (3,3,3,XD,1), R.Wells 9+1 (2,2',2,3), M.Nowak 7+1 (0,3,1',3), C.Bailey 4+2 (2,1',1',0)
POOLE 40, S.Worrall 5 (XE,2,3,0), D.Hume 3 (0,0,3,0), R.Schlein 9+1 (1',1,2,3,2), B.Cook 2 (2,0,0), D.King 9 (3,2,2,2,0), Z.Cook 6+2 (3,0,1',1,1'), B.Basso 6 (3,1,0,0,2)