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EASTER PREVIEW

31/03/26

The Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates face a tough opening fixture on Good Friday (6pm) when they welcome Devonshire cousins Plymouth Gladiators to Wimborne Road in a BSN Group tie.

Whilst the Pirates have reached every BSN Series final since it's inception, safely navigating the group stages which habitually pitch then against Plymouth and Oxford, the Gladiators will arrive with arguably one of their strongest sides in recent seasons, a fact not lost on Poole co-promoter Dan Ford:

"The wait is over and we’re really excited to get the 2026 season underway. I think the Championship is as competitive as it’s been since we joined, and there genuinely won’t be any easy meetings this year every point is going to matter.

"It’s obviously disappointing to lose Dan Gilkes so close to the start of the season, but we respect his honesty. He’s been working hard to get back, but after a couple of practice sessions last week he felt he just wasn’t quite where he needed to be to come to the tapes. We’ll give him the time he needs and look forward to bringing him back when he’s fully ready.

"In the meantime, we’re pleased to bring Kyle Newman back in. He knows the club inside out and is someone we trust to come in and do a job for us.

"As for Plymouth, I think this is the strongest side they’ve put together. They’ve got riders who are very good around Wimborne Road, so we know this is going to be a really tough test straight away. It’s important we start well and put ourselves in a strong position ahead of the away leg."

Led by number one Danny King, a Pirate himself back in 2021 and 2022, they also feature another two-term former Pirate in Tobias Thomsen, who rapidly warmed himself to the Poole faithful's heart through his determined and entertaining approach to the sport. Joe Thompson has also been a recent Pirate whilst the Silver Fox Scott Nicholls dates back further but has never lost the ability to ride the Poole track.

On Easter Saturday, the Pirates will head to the Coliseum without skipper Zach Cook,due to a Polish commitment. The Pirates will operate rider replacement.

Good Friday Line-Up

Poole: 1 Richard Lawson 2 Kyle Newman 3 Lewis Kerr 4 Fraser Bowes 5 Zach Cook (Capt) 6 William Cairns 7 Cooper Rushen TM Neil Middleditch

Plymouth: 1 Danny King 2 Tobias Thomsen 3 Joe Thompson 4 Ben Barker (Capt) 5 Scott Nicholls 6 Daniel Klima 7 Tom Spencer TM Garry May