REACTION: PIRATES FIGHTBACK TO PRODUCE A CLOSE ENCOUNTER AT THE COLISEUM

A controversial decision to disqualify Poole skipper Steve Worrall from heat fifteen after he and Ben Barker both fell on the second turn, cost the Wessex Marine Pirates the chance of completing what would have been a most remarkable come-back at the Coliseum in their final BSN Southern Group fixture.

Hosts Plymouth had, as expected, looked a totally different side to the one that struggled for nine heats at Wimborne Road to get into double figures last Wednesday. They hit the Pirates from the off with a comfortable 5-1 from big hitters Kyle Howarth and Ben Barker and provided nine of the first ten heat winners, only Richard Lawson's victory supported by a third place for Adam Roynon in heat 4 giving the good number of travelling Poole fans anything to cheer about.

Two thirds of the way through the match the Pirates were sixteen points down. But no-one in the Poole side of the pits was prepared to throw in the towel and three heats later that deficit had been slashed to four points through a hat-trick of 5-1 returns, a Ben Cook/Kyle Newman combination sandwiched between a double from Lawson and Worrall. The run was broken when the unbeaten Paul Starke, being led home by Newman, managed to stave off challenges from Zach Cook as Poole reduced the margin to just two points after the penultimate heat.

With heat fifteen lining up as a replication of heat thirteen, that had seen a Poole success, hopes were high that the Pirates could still scramble a result, but when Worrall and Barker both refused to give an inch around the first turn, as Lawson just held the lead from Howarth, the two backmarkers went down and on came the red lights. As Worrall rose to his feet he was greeted with the news that he had been adjudged the cause and would not be eligible for the re-start, a decision that handed the Gladiators their first win of the season.

Poole promoter Dan Ford weighed up the performance of the team, claiming

"It was a little bit concerning when the meeting was getting away from us as we went sixteen down but once again the Pirates showed great character and team spirit, with everyone helping each other out, which was great to see.

"I think it is fair to say that we didn't go into the meeting with the mentality that we would usually go in with. Obviously, we had done the hard work in already securing our place in the semi-finals, so I think circumstances dictated a bit. That's not to say we didn’t want to win. We want to win all our meetings but I think that played its part early on.

"Nevertheless the boys dug deep and took us into heat fifteen with a chance still of winning the meeting. But then obviously we had that incident with Stevie who was adjudged to be at fault. We felt that was somewhat harsh but I guess I can see it from both points of view. However, it sealed the result and so fair play to Plymouth, they had a really strong meeting , but I can leave here fairly confident about our chances when we take them on in the KO Cup and the league."

Scorers

Plymouth 46 (76) Kyle Howarth 13+1 (2',3,3,3,0,2) ,Paul Starke 12+2 (3,2',3,2',2) ,Ben Barker 10+1 (3,2,3,R,1,1') ,Dan Gilkes 6+1 (0,3,1,2',0) ,Jake Turner 4 (3,FD,0,RS,1,F) ,Ben Trigger 1 (0,0,RS,1,RS)

Poole 44 (103) Richard Lawson 15 (3,2,1,3,3,3) ,Ben Cook 8+1 (2,2,1',0,3) ,Kyle Newman 7+2 (1',1,FD,0,2',3) ,Steve Worrall 5+2 (1,0,2',2',XD) ,Adam Roynon 5 (2,1,2,RS) ,Zach Cook 4+2 (0,1',1',1,1)

Picture Dan Westlake (Plymouth)