KNOCKOUT NIGHT FOR RUSHEN

16-YEAR-OLD Cooper Rushen scored a paid maximum in only his third senior appearance as Poole slammed Scunthorpe 61-29 in the first leg of their MAXiCab KO Cup tie.

The Cup holders put themselves in pole position to reach the quarter-finals with an emphatic display at Wimborne Road, and youngster Rushen was unbeaten with 9+3 from four rides.

There were double-figure contributions from Zach Cook (13), Lewis Kerr (11) and Richard Lawson (10+1) although they all saw their own maximum hopes wrecked by Scorpions No.1 Josh Pickering.

The visiting captain scored 12 points including two race wins, but his only back-up came from Connor Mountain (8) with four second places.

Rushen said: “I think I struggled a bit last week, and it’s just nice to turn things around. We changed some things today and it’s nice to see things actually work in speedway.

“It doesn’t happen very often, but we’re just going to keep going from here, and we’ll learn more again today and we’ll take it into next week. There’s still a long way to go yet.

“I spoke to a couple of the boys throughout the night and they gave me some advice on what to do. I’ve done very few laps around here, so it’s up to me.

“I’m learning every race, so to learn from the more experienced guys is exactly what this is all about, and it definitely helped throughout the night.”

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Photo credit: TONY HARTMAN