REACTION: PIRATES LEFT WITH WORK TO DO IN CUP DEFENCE

For the first time in a knockout cup leg a Poole side have lost to a Plymouth outfit. Saturday's 49-41 defeat in the first leg of the MAXiCab KO Cup quarter final has left the Pirates with work to do when the two sides meet for the concluding leg on Wednesday, if they are to maintain their interests in the defence of the title.

Summing up Poole's performance, team manager for the night Danny Ford claimed "I don't really know why, but we just seemed to fall apart a bit between heats eleven and fourteen and that allowed them (Plymouth) to get away from us. We were able to salvage something from heat fifteen that certainly keeps the tie alive but we have got to be strong from start to finish on Wednesday, "
"Of course had that heat thirteen not been called back after Bomber (Chris Harris) was moving, which only served to hinder himself, then we might have been looking at a wholly different outcome. Rich (Lawson) and Lewi (Kerr) were away in that one but then in the gifted restart Bomber makes it and we end up conceding a 4-2."
"Bomber even came back into the pits afterwards and admitted he had got away with one. Those things are frustrating."

Only Richard Lawson was able to accumulate double figures from his rides on the Poole side, finishing with 10 points which included a characteristic last place in the opening heat, one won impressively by Tobias Thomsen who was later to add a second victory to his name.

Ford praised the Dane's efforts, saying "Toby rode it well tonight with seven from his first three rides and then found himself off the very difficult gate four which was something of a graveyard tonight. Even Bomber couldn't make it from there in heat fifteen so I think that says it all about that gate."

After ten heats the sides were locked in combat at thirty points each with never more than four points separating them. Poole conceded a 4-2 to Ben Barker and Mitchell Cluff then Cluff struck again, partnering up with Lasse Fredriksen for a 5-1 over Paul Starke and Anders Rowe in heat twelve. The Pirates then slipped a further two behind through that heat thirteen incident and skipper Zach Cook couldn't make his early advantage stick in heat fourteen as Fredriksen took the honours. Lawson and Rowe salvaged some of the deficit in heat fifteen leaving the tie delicately poised going into Wednesday's return.

Scorers:
PLYMOUTH 49 ,Ben Barker 13 (3,2,2,3,1,2) ,Lasse Fredriksen 9+1 (2,0,2,2',3) ,Alfie Bowtell 8+3 (2,1',3,1',1') ,Chris Harris 8+2 (1',2',2,3,0) ,Mitchell Cluff 8 (3,0,0,1,3,1) ,Ben Trigger 3 (1,RS,2,0,RS) ,
POOLE 41 ,Richard Lawson 10 (0,3,2,2,3) ,Anders Rowe 8 (3,1,3,0,1) ,Tobias Thomsen 7 (3,1,3,0) ,Paul Starke 5 (2,1,1,1) ,Lewis Kerr 5 (2,R,3,0) ,Zach Cook 5 (0,3,0,2) ,Darryl Ritchings 1+1 (0,1',0,0)