PIRATES MAKE IT TO CUP FINAL

HOLDERS Poole are through to another MAXiCab KO Cup Final after a successful defence of their first leg lead at Glasgow on Tuesday.

The Tigers had to pull back 14 points and the Pirates were under pressure when Lewis Kerr withdrew after a crash in his first ride, with No.1 Richard Lawson already missing the meeting.

But young reserve Will Cairns stepped up with 8+3 from seven rides to support skipper Zach Cook (11) and guest Jonas Jeppesen (9) as the visitors secured an aggregate win in the penultimate race.

Glasgow won 49-41 on the night with Leon Flint top scoring on 13+1, whilst Dan Thompson (11+3) and Chris Harris (11) were in double figures. Poole will now face either Redcar or Oxford in the Final.

Cairns said: “It has been a  bit of an up and down season for me and Havvy (Gary Havelock) said to me once we knew Lewi would be out, that this was game time now and it was likely I would have seven rides.

“People say to me that I am only 16, but my answer to that is I might only be 16 but I am a professional athlete so that means I can’t be acting like a 16-year-old. I have a job to do and am determined to do as good as I can.”

Glasgow manager Cami Brown said: “It was a tough night as we expected, especially losing Villads Nagel beforehand. He has been a vital cog in the side and we missed his scoring badly.

“But that’s the luck of sport and the boys gave it everything, I can’t fault them for effort and I’m proud of them. 

“We managed to get ourselves eight points up after six races but we then failed to really put the hammer down. The 5-1 against us in Heat 8 was probably the killer blow. The boys kept going, but it was always going to be uphill from there.”

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Photo credit: IAN ADAM