PIRATES UNDER PRESSURE DESPITE HALF-TIME ADVANTAGE

Whilst the 'Wessex Marine' Pirates  have a double figure lead at the half-time stage of the Grand Final the job of defending their league crown is far from done as they head for the fortress of Ashfield (Glasgow) on Friday.

The full strength Tigers side are formidable opponents, especially on their home shale and the Pirates will need to deliver a strong all-round performance if they are to see the job through.

Paul Starke, an unsung hero from the first leg with his battling three points announced "We will go there looking to win. We might have a lead but we can't take anything for granted and so the best thing is to do what we always do and head there with winning the meeting foremost in our minds."

It is a view shared throughout the side, including promoter Dan Ford. "Glasgow is an incredibly hard place to go to as they are very strong at home and so we have to be positive and set about stopping them getting heat advantages which could quickly whittle away our lead. It is going to be a tense battle, that's for sure and we cannot afford any below-par performances. We need an all-round team performance, each of the lads riding to their best ability. We have been asking that a lot from the boys in recent weeks but I know they have it in them to respond. We are precious about our trophies and this is one we desperately want to keep in our cabinet."

Teams
Glasgow (TM Cameron Brown) 1 Chris Harris (Capt) 2 Villads Nagel 3 Dan Thompson 4 Leon Flint 5 Kyle Howarth 6 Freddy Hodder 7 Max Perry
Poole (TM Gary Havelock & Neil Middleditch) 1 Richard Lawson 2 Tobias Thomsen 3 Lewis Kerr 4 Zach Cook (Capt) 5 Anders Rowe 6 Paul Starke 7 William Cairns

Photo credit: Tony Hartmann