Poole Pirates v Edinburgh Monarchs

POOLE returned to the top of the Cab Direct Championship with a 52-38 win over Edinburgh on a bruising night at Wimborne Road.

The Monarchs lost reserve Jordy Loftus with concussion after a Heat 2 tangle with Kyle Newman, who continued to race but was then signed out at the end of the meeting.

Meanwhile a tough meeting for the visitors also featured a crash for Kye Thomson in Heat 13 and he is awaiting further assessment on leg and hip concerns after returning to the pits.

Pirates captain Zach Cook scored a 15-point maximum with Richard Lawson also unbeaten by an opponent as he tallied 11+4. Monarchs reserve Mitchell Cluff put in his best-ever performance for the club with 14 from seven rides.

Cook said: “Edinburgh pushed us from the start tonight and then they threw a tac sub in and that worked, so they will be happy to have pushed as hard as they did.

“Our main agenda was to be able to have a good lead for when we go up there next week, and everyone did their job tonight.

“It’s a shame that Kyle finished the meeting a bit sore, but the top five did a job and when we do that it takes the pressure off the reserves, and we can look back at this as a good result against one of the top clubs.”

Cluff said: “Seeing Jordy and then Kye go down wasn’t good, and we just had to keep pushing on. It was a tough night and we just need to look at winning the return and going for the aggregate.

“It was one of my better performances at Poole and I was happy. Gate four got me twice but apart from that I was happy.”

CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP
POOLE 52: Zach Cook 15, Richard Lawson 11+4, Lewis Kerr 8+1, Will Cairns 7+1, Kyle Newman 4, Cooper Rushen 4, Sam Hagon 3+2.
EDINBURGH 38: Mitchell Cluff 14, Dan Thompson 8, Paco Castagna 6+3, Justin Sedgmen 6+1, Kye Thomson 4+2, Jonatan Grahn 0, Jordy Loftus 0

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Photo credit: TONY HARTMAN