Previewing Plymouth Gladiators v Poole Pirates KO Cup QF 2nd Leg

11/05/23

Seeking a place in the semi-finals of SGB Cab Direct Championship Knockout Cup competition, the Wessex Marine Pirates will be hoping to achieve their target of 37 race points as early as possible in the rescheduled second leg of their quarter final tie, which now takes place on Friday (12th May) after Tuesday's planned visit was postponed due to the weather.

The Pirates take an eighteen point lead with them to the Coliseum, Plymouth, an advantage that surpassed the expectations of team manager Neil Middleditch but one that promoter Dan Ford acknowledges needs to be fervently defended.
"They hit us hard in the early heats when we were there in the BSN Series, on a night when we were already assured of progress in that competition, and I am sure they will come at all guns blazing again on Tuesday, so we need to be ready for that. We only lost by two that night, so it would be good if we could go one stage better and win this one, although I will be happy if we just get the job done as early as possible and confirm our place in the semi-finals. Besides progress in the cup, there is also a lot of pride at stake as we have a very healthy rivalry with Plymouth and I am sure that Mark (Phillips) and Garry (May) will be firing their lads up to try and get one over us."

As with the first leg, held at Wimborne Road last week, both teams will be at full strength and this will be the fourth occasion the two clubs will have locked horns this season.

Teams
Plymouth: 1 Kyle Howarth (Capt) 2 Dan Gilkes 3 Paul Starke 4 Ben Barker 5 Richie Worrall 6 Jake Turner 7 Ben Trigger Team manager Garry May
Poole 1 Steve Worrall (Capt) 2 Anders Rowe 3 Ben Cook 4 Zach Cook 5 Richard Lawson 6 Kyle Newman 7 Adam Roynon Team manager Neil Middleditch