PIRATES REMAINING POSITIVE

POOLE boss Neil Middleditch insists it’s all to ride for despite a 12-point defeat in the first leg of the Cab Direct Championship Grand Final at Oxford on Saturday.

The Pirates find themselves in a similar position to last season heading back to their home track on Wednesday, having been unable to turn around a deficit of 14 when they lost out to Glasgow in the 2023 title decider.

And Middleditch admits the closing stages at Cowley, when Sam Masters and Scott Nicholls raced to two 5-1s, were damaging moments for his side.

He said: “It is not exactly a mountain, I would say it is more of a very steep hill. Twelve points is a little bit disappointing especially as we worked so very hard in the early stages to stop them from getting away from us.

“We knew we had to do that because they are always going to be strong in Heats 13 and 15 with Sam and Scotty.

“But it was just one of those nights. Tom (Brennan) had an off night and was sort of left scratching his head as to what happened, and you don’t see Richard (Lawson) drop so many points.

“OK, we lost tonight, but we had the two best teams in the league going head-to-head on a good track, so let’s hope that the weather doesn’t intervene on Wednesday and we can go again. There is all to ride for and one thing is for sure with matches like this, speedway is alive and kicking.”

OFFICIAL REFEREE SCORECARD
Available here

Photo credit: STEVE EDMUNDS