PIRATES INTO GRAND FINAL

POOLE have made it to another Cab Direct Championship Grand Final after overcoming Redcar at the ECCO Arena on Sunday.

The defending champions travelled north with a narrow six-point advantage, but they eased any nerves by doubling that margin in the opening four races of the second leg.

Whilst the Bears briefly fought back to level on the night, the Pirates’ aggregate position was not threatened and they pulled away again to secure their progression when guest Adam Ellis won Heat 13.

They won 48-42 on the night for a 96-84 overall triumph, with former Redcar rider Lewis Kerr starring on 13 points from five riders – and six of their team won at least one race, including 16-year-old reserve Will Cairns who scored seven. Bears stand-in Jake Allen top-scored for the home side with 10+1.

Kerr said: “The track was good tonight and I like coming back here to ride. Everyone chipped in, and we got the job done.

“The treble is still on, like last season, so that would be a nice one to do, but there is a long way to go yet.”

Bears manager Gavin Parr said: “I’ve got no excuses. Poole are a class side, and they’ve showed their class tonight.

“It was seven riders v seven riders, and unfortunately their seven riders were a little bit better on the night than ours were.

“We’ve got to take some positives out of it. It’s hard to at the minute, but there will be some, and we’ve got to dust ourselves down because we’re still in two competitions, and we need to rally the troops because they’re pretty down.”

Poole will now face Glasgow in the Grand Final with the first leg at Wimborne Road on Wednesday October 15, and the return at Ashfield 48 hours later on October 17.

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Photo credit: BRETT THURLOW