Pirates late surge beats Bears
Poole staged a late comeback to secure a 49-41 away win against the Redcar “Agilia” Bears. Redcar led for the majority of the meeting until a Pirates tactical substitute turned the tide to gain all 3 Cab Direct Championship points on offer. Ben Cook hit a scintillating paid 17 for the Pirates whilst Danny King hit 9 for Redcar.
Before the start of the meeting, Pirates reserve Vinnie Foord suffered an alarming crash on his parade lap which put pay to his first choice of machinery for the night. After a short delay for fence repairs, Poole’s Richard Lawson opened his account for the evening with a win, and with Tobias Thomsen in 3rd, the 2022 league champions had a heat advantage to start their night.
Heat 2 saw more bad luck strike for Foord as he tangled with Mulford on the opening bend and once again hit the deck. However, this time it would be the end of hia evening as he withdrew due to a nasty looking shoulder injury. The re-run saw Redcar gate on a 5-1 until Sam Hagon made an imperious inside pass on Ben Trigger at the start of lap 2 to ensure Poole did not fall behind, but with Mulford taking an impressive win, the meeting was level at 6-6.
Redcar then hit the front for the first time as Gilkes took an impressive win, and with the Redcar guest, Jordan Jenkins in 3rd, the Bears had the advantage in the early stages. After a shared heat 4 won by a fast starting Danny King, Jordan Jenkins marked his return to Redcar colours with a superb win over Lawson, and with Gilkes 3rd, Redcar doubled their lead to 4 on home shale.
Ben Cook took Poole’s second chequered flag in heat 7 as he passed Edwards for the win, but with Hagon last, Poole could not reduce the deficit. After a pair of shared heats won by Edwards and Ben Cook, Redcar extended their advantage to six points as Charles Wright won heat 10 after a nip and tuck battle with Poole’s Tom Brennan on the opening lap, and with Edwards getting the better of Zach Cook, Redcar had a cushion at the ECCO Arena.
Confusion reigned before the start of heat 11 as it was initially announced that Ben Cook would come out as a tactical substitute in place of Richard Lawson. However, Poole team boss Gary Havelock remarkably opted to change his mind with Tobias Thomsen now back in the race after all! Lawson took another win, and with Thomsen passing Trigger, Poole looked set to reduce the arrears until Thomsen suffered an engine failure on lap 3 which gave Trigger 3rd to ensure Redcar remained 6 ahead.
Havelock then chose to play his tactical in heat 12 with Ben Cook joining Brennan in a bid to hit back and the Pirates did just that as they stormed from the gate to send the Poole fans on bend 2 wild as they found themselves within 2 of Redcar. Poole then hit the front for the first time in 12 heats as Lawson and Ben Cook outgated King and Wright for the maximum heat win, and the visitors had the all important momentum.
Poole then gated on another 5-1 in heat 14, but Jenkins made an important pass on Hagon, but with Zach Cook taking the win, the Pirates had a 4 point lead heading into the final race. Heat 15 saw the blockbuster pairing of Ben Cook and Lawson take another 5-1 to give the visitors the win, and put Redcar’s play-off hopes in jeopardy.
Redcar Bears = 41 (84)
1. Charles Wright = 7+1
2. Jason Edwards = 6
3. Dan Gilkes = 6+1
4. Jordan Jenkins (G) = 8
5. Danny King = 9
6. Ben Trigger = 2+1
7. Jake Mulford = 3
Poole Pirates = 49 (96)
1. Richard Lawson = 13+1
2. Tobias Thomsen = 3
3. Tom Brennan = 9
4. Zach Cook = 4+1
5. Ben Cook = 15+2
6. Sam Hagon = 5+2
7. Vinnie Foord 0 – WITHDRAWN
