REACTION: HAVELOCK FULL OF PRAISE FOR ABLITT

Poole Pirates took a major step towards the play-off semi-finals and kept their title-defence hopes firmly alive with an emphatic 60-30 first leg triumph in their quarter final home tie against the Plymouth Gladiators.
 

Unbeaten performances from heat-leaders Steve Worrall (15), Richard Lawson (14+1) and Danny King (10+2) together with a single point dropped by Ben Cook (9+1) underpinned the Pirates mammoth score, their second highest of the season, falling just a couple points shy of their 62-28 Jubilee league win against the same opposition back in August.

But the rider that was given the biggest cheer of the night was reserve Nathan Ablitt who featured in heat twelve with an incredible ride off gate four to give  the Pirates their third, of what was to be a total of five, maximum heat scores.

Nominated Rider of the Night, Ablitt admitted "I think it showed in my last ride just what a difference a bit of fresh air can make, when I got a bit of it I felt that I showed what I can do . It was a bit of a tough night for me early on when I was on the wrong end of a tough challenge from [Lee] Complin. But Ben [Cook] and Havvy [Gary Havelock] had a bit of word with me before that last one and I was able to sort it out and be part of that 5-1."

It wasn't just the fans that appreciated Ablitt's superb drive off gate four to go by both Ben Morley and Lee Complin to join Steve Worrall at the front, but stand-in manager Gary Havelock was full of praise for the youngster. "You know I was so close to  taking Nathan out of heat twelve and putting him in heat fourteen, purely because I thought heat fourteen looked a bit of an easier race for him. He kept saying 'what you doing, what you doing', and so I watched the grading after heat eleven  and I looked at the results and a number of races had been won off gate four and that was where he was programmed so I said, right I am leaving you in. You are on four so just go out there and make it. And he did, it was a fabulous ride. Normally, when you are down on your luck and not riding as well as you want to be and find yourself in a good position you always think where are the opposition, are they right behind me. Well, I don't think he looked back once, but if he had done then he would have seen they were twenty to thirty metres behind him. He proved tonight what he is capable of and that is the good thing about the Poole Pirates. If he had been at any other club he would have been dropped, like back in May, but here at Poole they are willing to give the riders a chance and that is great. Apart from the odd injuries we are racing with the same bunch of riders all season."

The Pirates never conceded a heat in the first fifteen of this quarter final and so they head to Devon on Tuesday as firm favourites to qualify for the semi-finals. As Havelock added "It is not being big-headed or anything but we should be good enough to defend this lead, if we don't then we won't have deserved to go any further.

Prior to that second leg the Pirates have a date at Beaumont Park, Leicester on Saturday in the first leg of the Knockout Cup semi-final, a competition which again, they are defending. The return leg has now been set for next Wednesday (21st September) with the aggregate winners earning a cup final appearance against Redcar.

Poole 60 - Steve Worrall 15 (3,3,3,3,3) ,Richard Lawson 14+1 (3,3,3,3,2') ,Danny King 10+2 (2',3,3,2') ,Ben Cook 9+1 (3,1,3,2') ,Zach Cook 7 (3,0,1,1,2) ,Drew Kemp 3+1 (1,0,1,1') ,Nathan Ablitt 2+1 (0,0,RS,2')
Plymouth 30 - Hans Andersen 10 (2,2,2,2,1,1) ,Aaron Summers 8+1 (2,2,1',0,3,0) ,Leon Flint 4+1 (1,1',2,R,0) ,Ben Morley 4 (0,0,2,1,1) ,Lee Complin 3+1 (2,1',RS,0,0,0) ,Connor Coles 1+1 (1',RS,0,RS,0) ,Ben Trigger (DNR)