REACTION: Clinical Pirates in Driving Seat for BSN Qualifying

Poole team manager Neil Middleditch admitted that he was "pleasantly surprised" with the magnitude of defeat that his Pirates inflicted on Plymouth on Friday, producing a result that puts the Dorset side very much in the driving seat to win their BSN Group after their 58-32 success.

"That was a clinical performance for sure. I told the boys ahead of the meeting to be wary of Plymouth as they have produced some good results of their own this season and their tails would be up, but we put in a great show and have a very healthy lead in the quest for the bonus point that we need to go through from our group." 

"To be honest, I asked the lads for a ten to fifteen point lead, so with a twenty six point advantage they more than delivered and gives us a bit of a cushion when we go there tomorrow (Saturday). They all put in a good shift tonight and Richard (Lawson) proved yet again he is just a points machine. He is such a great bloke. He just loves his speedway so much, he is brilliant. Just turns up, goes out there and does his stuff and is supportive in the pits too. He is so happy in his work and I have always said, if you are happy in your work then it is more than half the battle, and that feeling goes beyond Richard as we have a full set of riders who are so good to work with."

"The job is not yet done, let's not get too carried away, for I have said it before, it can be a bit of a tricky track to ride down there, but  with a points lead to fall back on we have certainly made our job a bit easier. I do feel a bit sorry for Nico (Covatti) as it looks as if he could be out for a while now. I was talking to him before the meeting and I thought that perhaps he was being a bit ambitious to come back but he was so keen to ride and he wanted to do a good job for them, but it was just a little too soon it seems."

Middleditch saw his side build up their twenty six point lead across the last eleven heats of the meeting as the scores were all square after each rider had been out on track at least once. 

Number one Richard Lawson led the charge with a full house from his five rides whilst Tom Brennan, who has to be the signing of the season, weighed in with a dozen points and reserve Sam Hagon knocked in paid thirteen after starting on the wrong end of a 5-1.

Poole's dominance was spelt out in the statistic that Plymouth could point to just two race winners across the night and only one heat advantage. With the win taking the Pirates above Oxford in the BSN Southern Group the aggregate bonus point, which they will earn if they score 33 points in the concluding leg at Plymouth will be enough to see them through to the semi-final stages of the competition.

Scorers

POOLE 58 ,Richard Lawson 15 (3,3,3,3,3) ,Tom Brennan 12 (3,3,2,3,1) ,Sam Hagon 11+2 (1,3,3,2',2') ,Ben Cook 9+1 (3,1,3,2') ,Zach Cook 7+2 (1,2',1',3) ,Tobias Thomsen 4+1 (1,0,2',1) ,Max Perry 0 (0,0,RS,0) PLYMOUTH 32 ,Dan Thompson 10 (2,2,2,2,0,2) ,Ben Barker 8+1 (2,1',3,0,1,1,R) ,Joe Thompson 5+2 (2',2,0,1') ,Jacob Hook 5+1 (3,1',1,0) ,Alfie Bowtell 3 (2,1,0,0) ,Kyle Newman 1 (0,R,TS,1) ,Nico Covatti 0 (R,R,IRR,IRR)