PIRATES WIN BEARS CLASH

POOLE moved two points clear at the top of the Cab Direct Championship with a convincing 51-39 win over Redcar at Wimborne Road.

The Pirates made a flying start as they opened the meeting with back-to-back 5-1s in the opening two races, forcing the Bears into damage limitation.

The decisive moment effectively came in Heat 9 when home duo Lewis Kerr and Zach Cook raced to a maximum advantage over Erik Riss and tactical substitute Danny King just as the visitors were looking to get back into the contest.

Richard Lawson scored 13+1 for the Pirates although he was denied a maximum in Heat 15 by former Pirates rider King, who won four of his six races on his way to 14 points.

Kerr added 10 for a solid-scoring home side, whilst the visitors did peg the deficit in the final third of the meeting and finished with two 4-2s.

Poole boss Neil Middleditch said: “Looking at the scoresheet it was a good performance from one to seven for us.

“Obviously they were missing Jason (Edwards) but we can only race what’s in front of us, and I think the good thing was getting a good start, which we haven’t been doing.

“We got away well, which was good, and it gave us a bit of a cushion to play with.”

Redcar manager Gavin Parr said: “We were beaten by the better side on the day, I’ve got no excuses. We didn’t start well and it’s always an uphill battle when you’re 10-2 down.

“The guys stuck at it and we tried our hardest, but we just weren’t good enough on the night.”

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Photo credit: LIAM COCKWELL