RESULT: Poole Pirates v Glasgow Tigers - Play Off Final 1st Leg

Poole will take a 12-point lead with them to Glasgow on Friday as they seek to retain the SGB Cab Direct Championship title

Whilst Poole have the mantra of going into every meeting with the intention and desire to win, they were only too aware that in this Cab Direct Championship Grand Final it was even more important to put the Glasgow Tigers on the back foot from the very outset. So whilst it was no major surprise to have the familiar sight of Richard Lawson comfortably out front, heat one did produce the less familiar sight of Chris Harris trailing home in last place, as Poole picked up the first of three successive 4-2 heat gains. Freddy Hodder's persistence paid off in heat two as he managed to get by Paul Starke for second place, whilst sharp starter William Cairns collected a race win in his debut Championship Play Off Grand Final. Skipper Zach Cook was smart in heat three going by Dan Thompson, but Lewi Kerr tried the same move  without the same level of success and had to spend the rest of the race defending off the interests of Leon Flint. Heat four had Anders Rowe producing a splendid first turn to take command but alas, Cairns struggled into the first turn and lost valuable ground, although to his credit he did close in a fair deal on Max Perry as the race evolved. Cook and Kerr did a solid job in keeping the lively Villads Nagel at distance from race leader Harris as the first third of this home leg was completed with Poole holding a slender six point lead (18-12).

Tobias Thomsen was battling hard between turns three and four and looked ready to pass Howarth but ended up in the air fence with a torn race suit, which the Dane insists was caused by the contact with Howarth's wheel. But a replay of the incident led to a decision to disqualify Thomsen as the cause of the stoppage. Lawson, in the re-run, continued with his normal service thus protecting the half a dozen points advantage. But Flint and Thompson knocked a big hole in that when they denied Rowe any opening and Nagel kept the pressure on the Pirates when he won heat eight, although to the credit of young Cairns he wasn't too far behind making an effective challenge on the track debutant. The 'engine room' delivered again, big time, for Poole in heat nine with Kerr well clear and Cook holding out Howarth and then Thomsen picked up a hugely valuable point to support Lawson's third win of the night, as he kept Flint at the back despite plenty of pressure from the Tigers' number four. That established an eight point lead with a third of the tie now completed (34-26).

Nagel spluttered out of the tapes in heat eleven, Starke having made a decent get-away from trap four. Rowe went round Harris to take up the running and Starke had his eyes too on trying to pass Harris, who in turn was attempting to slow the pace to give time for the re-fired Nagel to catch up. Harris soon realised that was a risky strategy and pulled away from Starke, but the 4-2 helped Poole's cause no-end. Dan Thompson foiled Kerr early in heat twelve and with Hodder pointing the Tigers brought he deficit back into single figures. Squeeky rear-time when Harris denied Lawson taking his run of undefeated rides for Poole at Wimborne Road to twenty-five but as significat was the fact Howarth was backing up in third and that earlier six point margin was back in play. Time for  a big finish and Zach stood up to the challenge. He missed the gate in heat fourteen but rapidly established pole position and again Starke was playing an important role, clinging on to third place. Zach then endured an even tougher race in heat 15 when he had to fend off Harris after passing him, whilst Lawson was back on the wins. Cook was aware that Harris could strike from anywhere but the battle of the captains was won by Cook, in the end quite comfortably and the final result had the biggest difference between the two sides. So now it is a question or whether Glasgow can claw back one more than the dozen when the sides meet in 48 hours.

POOLE 51
Richard Lawson 3,3,3,2,3=14 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 1,FD,1',1=3+1 (4)
Lewis Kerr 1,2,3,2=8 (4)
Zach Cook 3,1',2',3,2'=11+3 (5)
Anders Rowe 3,1,3,0=7 (4)
Paul Starke 1,0,1,1=3 (4)
William Cairns 3,0,2,0=5 (4)
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GLASGOW 39
Chris Harris 0,3,2,3,1=9 (5)
Villads Nagel 2,0,3,0=5 (4)
Dan Thompson 2,2',2,3,0=9+1 (5)
Leon Flint 0,3,0,2=5 (4)
Kyle Howarth 2,2,1,1=6 (4)
Freddy Hodder 2,1',0,1,0=4+1 (5)
Max Perry 0,1,0,RS=1 (3)
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Ht 1:  R.Lawson, V.Nagel, T.Thomsen, C.Harris 4-2 4-2 [59.85]
Ht 2:  W.Cairns, F.Hodder, P.Starke, M.Perry 4-2 8-4 [60.97]
Ht 3:  Z.Cook, D.Thompson, L.Kerr, L.Flint 4-2 12-6 [60.17]
Ht 4:  A.Rowe, K.Howarth, M.Perry, W.Cairns 3-3 15-9 [60.76]
Ht 5:  C.Harris, L.Kerr, Z.Cook, V.Nagel 3-3 18-12 [61.12]
Ht 6:  R.Lawson, K.Howarth, F.Hodder, T.Thomsen [fell exc] 3-3 21-15 [60.69]
Ht 7:  L.Flint, D.Thompson, A.Rowe, P.Starke 1-5 22-20 [61.17]
Ht 8:  V.Nagel, W.Cairns, T.Thomsen, M.Perry 3-3 25-23 [61.57]
Ht 9:  L.Kerr, Z.Cook, K.Howarth, F.Hodder 5-1 30-24 [60.92]
Ht 10:  R.Lawson, D.Thompson, T.Thomsen, L.Flint 4-2 34-26 [61.43]
Ht 11:  A.Rowe, C.Harris, P.Starke, V.Nagel 4-2 38-28 [62.13]
Ht 12:  D.Thompson, L.Kerr, F.Hodder, W.Cairns 2-4 40-32 [61.37]
Ht 13:  C.Harris, R.Lawson, K.Howarth, A.Rowe 2-4 42-36 [61.38]
Ht 14:  Z.Cook, L.Flint, P.Starke, F.Hodder 4-2 46-38 [61.75]
Ht 15:  R.Lawson, Z.Cook, C.Harris, D.Thompson 5-1 51-39 [61.58]

SGB Referee MS Christina Turnbull 
Meeting Reaction