RESULT: Scunthorpe v Poole - Play Off Final 1st Leg

2/10/26

Pirates Pride came to the fore in the first leg of this title decider as the defending champions battled back from 7 heats without fielding a race winner to eventually go down by eght points.

Moving back into the main body of the team, Connor Mountain showed his worth as he jetted out of the start to get the first leg under way. For the best part of three laps, William Cairns was doing a terrific job of fending off the masterful Josh Pickering, but when Zach Cook attempted a move up the inside, it actually forced Pickering onto the better, wider line, and that took him flying by Cairns to kick Scunthorpe's night off with a 5-1. On his first Eddie Wright Raceway appearance, Slater Lightcap made a decent start, forcing Ryan Ingram to dig deep to muster an impressive overtake. Behind the pair, Kyle Newman was making a good job of keeping Nathan Ablitt out of the points on his return to the reserves.

Michael Palm-Toft had no desire to hang around in Heat 3, but thankfully Cooper Rushen and Lewis Kerr had the measure of Jacob Hook. Ingram looked more than comfortable out front in Heat 4, his partner Luke Harrison sensibly shadowing him home at the expense of Richard Lawson, who maintained his inside-line assaults but without a great deal of hope of making them stick. Zach Cook had to work a lot harder than he would have wanted to in heat five, his efforts only taking him past Hook. Cairns clung on to second with some dogged determination (19-11).

Pickering had significantly more pace than Lawson, but the true action of heat six was being played out behind the two heat leaders as Lightcap and Mountain locked horns. The Heat 1 winner just used his greater experience of the raceway to keep Lightcap on the less preferable line in the closing stages, allowing the home side to establish a double-figure lead. Things looked a whole lot worse in Heat 7 as Harrison was uncatchable and Ablitt was up there with him in the early stages. But Rushen dug deep and fought tirelessly to get by and follow home Kerr for a much-needed shared heat.

Race winners had eluded Poole for the first half, but in the middle of Heat 8 Cairns stepped up to the plate. For a while, Lightcap looked set to make it a 5-1, but Ingram fiercely forced himself by, costing the American a brief period of lost speed which Mountain exploited. Palm-Toft was at his very sharpest and made it a comprehensive win over Lawson.

For the second successive heat there was an Ingram-Lightcap duel, this one seeing the Poole reserve hold firm enough for the sixth shared heat of the evening. Rushen stormed out of gate one and most impressively claimed the scalp of Pickering, who, in his quest to remain unbeaten, had to make an adjustment to his line as he attempted a full-outside blast while negotiating the second bend. That brief moment gave Rushen a slight advantage, and the youngster did exceptionally well to hold on.

Kerr produced an earnest fight too but didn't have the same answers as his team-mate. Importantly, though, Poole were celebrating their first heat advantage exactly two-thirds of the way through the meeting, bringing the deficit back into single figures (34-26).

Zach Cook spent much of Heat 11 stalking Harrison with intent, saving his passing move until late, but a second Poole heat gain evaded them as Ingram, always in the sights of Cairns, held on for third place. However, an opportunity appeared to have been missed by Scunthorpe in not offering Ablitt his third mandatory ride in that one and saving Ingram for Heat 12 to avoid having two riders who hadn't troubled the scorers so far. Poole capitalised on the weakness of the Scorpions in Heat 12 through Rushen and Cairns, and Poole halved the deficit to just four points.

Heat 13 was all about two races in one: Pickering and Cook going wheel to wheel out front, while Lawson had to work hard to defend third place from Harrison. Rushen then produced a very entertaining ride to hold out the unbeaten Palm-Toft for three gruelling heat 14 laps, but the Dane was making a very strong case for rider of the night and found room to get by.

That gave the Scorpions the knowledge that they would be holding some level of advantage going into the second leg and, when Cook broke Palm-Toft's maximum dreams in Heat 15 with Pickering taking the win, the Poole camp were probably the happier with the outcome.

SCUNTHORPE 49
Josh Pickering 2',3,2,3,3=13+1 (5)
Connor Mountain 3,1,1',0=5+1 (4)
Jacob Hook 0,0,RS,0=0 (3)
Michael Palm-Toft 3,3,3,3,1=13 (5)
Luke Harrison 2',3,2,0=7+1 (4)
Ryan Ingram 3,3,RS,2,0,1',1=10+1 (6)
Nathan Ablitt 0,RS,0,RS,1=1 (3)

POOLE 41
Zach Cook 0,1',3,2,2=8+1 (5)
William Cairns 1,2,3,0=6 (4)
Lewis Kerr 2,2,1,2'=7+1 (4)
Cooper Rushen 1',1',3,2=7+2 (4)
Richard Lawson 1,2,2,1',0=6+1 (5)
Slater Lightcap 2,0,0,1',3=6+1 (5)
Kyle Newman 1',0,RS,0=1+1 (3)

Ht 1: C.Mountain, J.Pickering, W.Cairns, Z.Cook 5-1 5-1 [58.22]
Ht 2: R.Ingram, S.Lightcap, K.Newman, N.Ablitt 3-3 8-4 [58.29]
Ht 3: M.Palm-Toft, L.Kerr, C.Rushen, J.Hook 3-3 11-7 [57.05]
Ht 4: R.Ingram, L.Harrison, R.Lawson, K.Newman 5-1 16-8 [57.81]
Ht 5: M.Palm-Toft, W.Cairns, Z.Cook, J.Hook 3-3 19-11 [57.42]
Ht 6: J.Pickering, R.Lawson, C.Mountain, S.Lightcap 4-2 23-13 [56.98]
Ht 7: L.Harrison, L.Kerr, C.Rushen, N.Ablitt 3-3 26-16 [58.57]
Ht 8: W.Cairns, R.Ingram, C.Mountain, S.Lightcap 3-3 29-19 [58.82]
Ht 9: M.Palm-Toft, R.Lawson, S.Lightcap, R.Ingram 3-3 32-22 [59.02]
Ht 10: C.Rushen, J.Pickering, L.Kerr, C.Mountain 2-4 34-26 [58.87]
Ht 11: Z.Cook, L.Harrison, R.Ingram, W.Cairns 3-3 37-29 [59.42]
Ht 12: S.Lightcap, L.Kerr, N.Ablitt, J.Hook 1-5 38-34 [59.38]
Ht 13: J.Pickering, Z.Cook, R.Lawson, L.Harrison 3-3 41-37 [58.38]
Ht 14: M.Palm-Toft, C.Rushen, R.Ingram, K.Newman 4-2 45-39 [58.51]
Ht 15: J.Pickering, Z.Cook, M.Palm-Toft, R.Lawson 4-2 49-41 [58.37]
SGB Referee Mr Michael Breckon