REACTION: NORTHERN BOSS DESCRIBES PIRATES AS 'FANTASTIC'

Poole's northern team manager Gary Havelock is celebrating a personal double success after steering the 'Wessex Marine' Pirates to a well-received 47-43 victory over the Scunthorpe Scorpions.
 

Having seen Richard Lawson and Ben Cook battle hard for a heat fifteen 4-2 advantage over solid home pairing of Ryan Douglas and Jake Allen to seal the match, Havelock claimed "before the weekend as Poole manager I hadn't won at Berwick and as Poole manager I had never won at Scunthorpe but now the fantastic Pirates  have achieved both of them for me in the space of a week and I am over the moon. 
"It was tough out there. It is a tough place to come, probably one of the toughest places to come and get a result. They show that by their results. I mean I think Oxford only came here and got a draw and we have come here and beaten them after being behind for a long time. I kept looking at the programme and not seeing any race wins being filled in for us but then we got it together and as the meeting went on we became stronger and I think they began to worry about us. They took an awfully long time to decide on heat fifteen, I'm not sure if they were unsure about which gate positions they wanted. We were fully expecting them to take gates two and four which were the best gates but we must have got into their heads or something."
That first heat winner came from Kyle Newman in heat eight and he was ably supported home by the tigerish guest Sam Hagon who in all four of his rides produced some excellent chases including a last to second in that eighth heat to give the Pirates a major boost as it reduced the gap between the two sides to just two points 
Hagon admitted afterwards "Poole is an amazing club and it is always good to be asked to guest for them. I did a lot better tonight than I did the last time I was here and I enjoyed it out there. I have to say speedway is a lot easier if you can make a start and I just couldn’t make one but I kept chasing and when I found a bit of fresh air then it felt good. I feel that I am making progress throughout the season and I have noticed that  when I am up against much harder riders it brings me on that bit more. It's been a good couple of days for me. I got a heat thirteen and fifteen appearance in the Premiership last night and then tonight I've been part of a winning Poole side."
The result puts Poole three points behind leaders Oxford with a meeting in hand and gives them a three point advantage over Glasgow, although the Scottish side have ridden two fewer meetings than the defending league champions.

SCUNTHORPE 43 (84) Ryan Douglas 12 (3,3,2,2,2) ,Jake Allen 9 (3,3,3,0) ,Simon Lambert 9 (3,3,1,2) ,Michael Palm-Toft 7 (0,1,3,3) ,Steve Boxall 4 (3,1,0,R,0) ,Connor Mountain 2 (1,0,1,0) ,Nathan Ablitt 0 (0,0,0,RS) ,
POOLE 47 (96) Richard Lawson 12 (2,2,2,2,1,3) ,Ben Cook 9+2 (1',1',3,3,1) ,Steve Worrall 8+1 (2,1',2,3) ,Zach Cook 7 (2,2,1,2) ,Sam Hagon 5+2 (2,F,2',1') ,Kyle Newman 4+1 (R,0,3,1') ,Alfie Bowtell 2+1 (1',TS,0,1)
  
Full Heat Details 

Photo credit Anthony Burchalll