REACTION: PIRATES TAKE CONTROL OF CUP SEMI

A paid maximum from Tom Brennan, a career best Championship score for Vinne Foord and their second highest score of the season, saw the Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates put one wheel in the Championship Knockout Cup final for the fourth successive season.

The magnitude of the Pirates first leg 60-29 victory was made that much sweeter as it came at the expense of the club that denied them this competition's silverware in 2023 - Scunthorpe.
The downside was a lengthy delay due to a bizarre incident with the water bowser that caused the south bend to be flooded far more than had been intended, as the track staff battled to keep the dust down, and then a further interruption after Tobias Thomsen crashed heavily and spectacularly in heat six and needed medical attention.

But racing-wise the Pirates were well fired up for the cause and registered ten heat advantages, seven of which were maximums. Although Brennan was just brilliant throughout, the star of the meeting was unquestionably Foord, fresh back from a disastrous night at Redcar and collecting the Rider of the Night award following his hard-working paid seven return. "ah yeah, that has certainly put a smile back on my face. The weekend was one definitely to throw away, my shoulder is still hurting but I just had to forget about that. I haven't really been making good starts all night but I was going great into the first corner and it managed to work. I have had a lot of help and if it hadn't been for Shaun Wilkinson who has helped me all season, but especially this week. Without him I wouldn't have been here tonight. . I tried a new engine after a couple of rides tonight and it seemed to work. I can't remember what I scored , six paid seven I think so. I felt a bit more comfortable tonight and it's all good track experience and confidence."   

Promoter Dan Ford was full of praise for his riders and the patient supporters, the latter also being thanked publicly by meeting referee Chris Durno, with Ford explaining, "it was a strange night for us on the machinery side of things. The spray bar broke on the water bowser and we couldn't get it off the track quick enough, so apologies to everyone for that delay. I just like to add that we were mindful of the forecast of rain so we hadn't watered the track as much as we really would have liked to and then the rain didn't come too heavy and the track just dried out a little bit. Under the circumstances I felt the track rode quite well, certainly our boys found it. I can't believe the size of lead that they have built up. I feel Scunny are one of the best teams in the league and to be going there with a thirty-one point lead, whenever that may be, is a fantastic effort."

Brennan almost missed his maximum on the very last corner of the final heat when he ran out just a little too wide on the fourth turn and clipped the airbarrier. His skill was sufficient to stay aboard and follow Richard Lawson, who earlier in the race had blasted from last to first in one sweeping move around the first turn and down the back-straight, just to rub salt into the wounded Scorpions.

The main concern though for the Pirates will be the fitness of Tobias Thomsen, who after clipping the rear wheel of Nathan Ablitt in heat six just as a classic heat was about to unfold, took a heavy fall and sustained an ankle injury that forced him to withdraw from his final two rides. The Pirates will be hoping that he will be ready to take his place in the side for this weekend's trips to Glasgow (Friday) and Workington (Saturday).

Scorers:
POOLE 60 - Tom Brennan 14+1 (3,3,3,3,2') ,Richard Lawson 13+1 (3,3,2,2',3) ,Ben Cook 10+1 (3,1',3,3) ,Zach Cook 8+1 (1,2,2',3) ,Sam Hagon 7+2 (FD,2',3,0,0,2') ,Vinnie Foord 6+1 (2,1,2',1) ,Tobias Thomsen 2+1 (2',FD,RS,RS) SCUNTHORPE 29 - Jake Allen 7 (2,0,3,2,0) ,Michael Palm Toft 6+1 (1,3,1',0,1) ,Kyle Howarth 6 (2,2,1,1) ,Nathan Ablitt 4+1 (3,1',R,RS,0) ,Connor Mountain 3 (0,1,1,1) ,Simon Lambert 3 (0,0,1,2) ,Luke Harrison 0 (FD,0,RS,0,0)

Full Heat Details and Meeting Report

Photo Credits: Anthony Burchell