Poole Pirates v Redcar Bears

POOLE retained the Championship KO Cup with a 52-38 home win over Redcar for a 21-point aggregate success.

The Pirates had done much of their hard work by winning at the Ecco Arena last Friday and finished the job at Wimborne Road with the silverware secured by a 5-1 from Richard Lawson and Zach Cook in Heat 11.

Lawson top-scored for the home side with 13 from five rides, whilst Steve Worrall also won three races and Ben Cook kept up his impressive form with 9+3.

Erik Riss top-scored for the Bears with 11, who were unable to repeat their 2019 KO Cup victory, but they do have silverware to show for their 2022 campaign thanks to their Championship Pairs triumph at Oxford in August.

Pirates skipper Danny King, who rode with a broken finger, said: “We are here to win trophies and we’ve done the first part of that tonight, and it doesn’t stop now.

“We have got a league title to win next week, and I will do whatever I have to if it helps the side. If I need to lend Drew (Kemp) an engine again then I will.

“Whatever needs to be done will be done by me because I am here to win trophies and that’s what we are all about.

“Tonight I really have to say a big thank you to Ben Cook. Me and Ben have such a great understanding on track and I love riding with him, and I think he feels the same. We just always seem to know where each other is, but I have to thank him tonight, because I was struggling out there.”

CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP FINAL, 2nd leg
POOLE 52: Richard Lawson 13, Ben Cook 9+3, Zach Cook 9+1, Steve Worrall 9, Danny King 6, Drew Kemp 6, Nathan Ablitt 0
REDCAR 38: Erik Riss 11, Lewis Kerr 6, Kyle Newman 6, Kasper Andersen 4+2, Jason Edwards 4+2, Jordan Jenkins 4+1, Kye Thomson 3+1
Poole win 100-79 on aggregate

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Photo credit: ANTHONY BURCHELL