REACTION: SUPER COOK SCUPPERS SCORPIONS

Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates collected their third away league win of the season, banked their fourth aggregate bonus point of their league campaign and moved nine points clear of closest rivals Glasgow, as they secured a 50-40 victory at Scunthorpe on Friday.

The defeat for the North Lincolnshire side sees them drop a place in the table to fourth, despite doing their best to try and prevent a Poole side from winning at the Eddie Wright Raceway for a third consecutive visit.

Poole were exceptionally well served by their skipper Zach Cook, who has only dropped five points in his last sixteen rides at the North Lincolnshire venue, the recently turned 26-year old confessing "I don't know why but I do love riding this place and it was good to get amongst the points, but more importantly it was an super all-round team performance and it feels good to come away with another good win."

Whilst Cook, who dropped his only point in heat three when Connor Mountain led both the Poole skipper and Lewi Kerr home, was an outstanding candidate for rider of the night, the actual ride of the night was won hands down by Richard Lawson in heat thirteen. The Rocketman described it as "an important heat", explaining, "if we had conceded a 5-1 in that one  then the scores would have looked real different and for some reason I just couldn't get off the gate today. The starts are tricky here but I felt confident as I knew I had the speed . They  (Steve Worrall and Jake Allen) were riding well together but I thought I was faster than them. I got close a number of times but knew I had to make it. I saw the chance and went for it. It was close, very close but when you pull one of those moves off it is a good feeling. The track had changed a bit by then. I felt they overwatered it during the interval, in fact I didn't feel it needed any watering, there wasn't much dust all night and the track was riding well. After the break it just made the wheel spin a lot more but we got it together and, you know, all the boys went well and that's what it is all about."

The Pirates had to come back from a six point deficit after the first six heats but a 5-1 from engine room of Cook and Kerr saw Poole claim their first heat advantage and then a super winning ride from teenager Will Cairns in heat eight, with Tobias Thomsen collecting third place pulled the scores back on to an even keel. Then it was a case of the "Cook-Kerr " being 'on the gas' in heat ten to slide Poole ahead by four and with Lawson preventing that 5-1 in heat thirteen it was Poole and not the Scorpions who had the sting in the tail.

SCUNTHORPE 40 ,Steve Worrall 9+1 (1',3,1,2,2) ,Zaine Kennedy 9 (3,2,2,2,0,0) ,Connor Mountain 8+2 (3,3,1',1') ,Jake Allen 5+2 (1',0,3,1') ,Declan Kennedy 4 (1,0,RS,2,1) ,Simon Lambert 3 (2,1,0,RS) ,Luke Harrison 2 (1,1,0,TS,0) 

POOLE 50 ,Zach Cook 14 (2,3,3,3,3) ,Richard Lawson 11+2 (3,1',2,3,2') ,Lewis Kerr 7+2 (0,2',2',3) ,Anders Rowe 6 (3,0,3,0) ,Tobias Thomsen 4+1 (0,2,1,1') ,Will Cairns 4 (0,0,3,1,RS) ,Paul Starke 4 (2,2,0,RS,0)

Heat Details

Photo: Tony Hartmann