PLAY-OFFS BY NUMBERS

Riding in their 48th play-off match on Thursday 4th November, the Pirates secured their 17th aggregate tie victory and their 29th match victory to clinch their 9th league title in the 21st century. 

Pulling off their 22nd home victory, from 25 Wimborne Road staged play-off meetings, the Pirates registered their 9th highest team score with their 56-34 defeat of the Glasgow Tigers to comfortably compensate for their 40-50 defeat in this season's first leg of the Grand Final.

The 96-84 aggregate victory brought Neil Middleditch his 25th winner's medal with the Pirates, his ninth league title being added to his six KO cup wins and ten 'Shield' honours.

In total, 80 different riders have represented the Pirates across those 48 meetings, with Chris Holder leading the list having ridden in 21 play-off matches for the Pirates. With 207 play-off points to his name he outpoints 15-timer Darcy Ward by 30 points. 2021 skipper Danny King has made 7 appearances for Poole, three as a guest and is now the 11th highest play-off scorer for Poole with 48 points from his 30 rides. Rory Schlein, Steve Worrall and Benjamin Basso all of whom made their first play-off appearances for Poole this season all feature in the all-time top 25 play-off scorers for the Pirates.

Tony Rickardsson, four meetings, has the best average return of 9.88 (excluding bonus points) whilst Darcy Ward can better that figure if bonus points are included as he has a staggering 10.30 average from his paid 188 points across 15 meetings.