Leicester Lions v Poole Pirates

POOLE held Leicester to a narrow two-point margin in the first leg of their Championship KO Cup semi-final.

The Lions won the first leg 46-44 at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena having fought back from an early four-point deficit to go eight-up by Heat 10 – but a strong finish from the Pirates saw them make their own comeback, including a key 5-1 from Drew Kemp and Zach Cook in Heat 14.

Richie Worrall scored 12 for the Lions, including a win in a shared Heat 15, and his score was matched by Pirates captain Danny King.

Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: “It was a strange meeting, and we started slowly which wasn’t totally unexpected because of the fact that we’ve not raced here for seven weeks.

“We then came back into it and got the momentum, but then we contributed to our own downfall a wee bit and let Poole back into it.

“They rode pretty well overall as well and it was a decent meeting, but I don’t know whether two points is going to be enough.”

CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP S/F 1st leg
LEICESTER 46: Richie Worrall 12, Kyle Howarth 9+1, Nick Morris 8, Dan Thompson 6+1, Max Clegg 5+2, Joe Thompson 4+1, Connor Mountain 2.
POOLE 44: Danny King 12, Steve Worrall 9+1, Richard Lawson 8+1, Drew Kemp 6+1, Zach Cook 5+1, Ben Cook 4+1, Nathan Ablitt 0.

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Photo credit: MARK HALL