PIRATES OFF TO A WINNING START

POOLE opened their Cab Direct Championship title defence with a 55-35 win over Scunthorpe despite a sluggish start which saw the visitors take an early lead.

The Scorpions were four points up after Heat 4 and just two points down after Heat 8 – but the Pirates then took control as they dominated the final seven races by an 18-point margin.

Anders Rowe continued his excellent week with a first-ever full maximum at this level as he went through the card with 15 from five rides, whilst Richard Lawson added 13+1 dropping his only point in Heat 1.

The Scorpions only had two race wins with Connor Mountain leading the scoring on eight, whilst both Luke Harrison and Declan Kennedy suffered heavy falls in the closing stages.

Rowe said: “I was given the choice of gates in Heat 15 tonight and I thought I had messed it up as I didn’t get away from two, but I got into second and then Richard let me through.

“Things weren’t quite how I would have liked them early on and I am still fine tuning some things.”
Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We had the correct set-up for the track to begin with, but it got away from us as the meeting progressed. 

“There was no lack of effort from the side, especially the Kennedy boys at reserve, who just keep on battling and trying different things, but they lost the set-up at the end.

“It was definitely a meeting of two halves tonight, and the final scoreline didn’t quite reflect how long we kept it close.”

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Photo credit: TONY HARTMAN