Preview: Redcar Bears v Poole Pirates - Crucial Bonus Point to Race For

Having worked their way to the top of the SGB Cab Direct Championship table on Wednesday night, the Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates will swiftly be back in action on Friday when they travel to Redcar.

This meeting has the aggregate bonus point resting on it, the Pirates holding a slender 47-43 advantage from when the Bears were at Wimborne Road back in June, and that puts additional pressure on the Pirates, as promoter Dan Ford explains,

"every league point is always vital but with the way the league is currently looking the aggregate bonus points are likely to be the deciding factor in teams reaching the play-offs or not. There are only four places available and already we have just three points separating the top five sides and just a further two the top six. Redcar are in fifth place at the moment but have ridden more matches than all the clubs around them and so the bonus point is as critical to their chances as it is to ours."
"I am sure that they will feel they are going into this meeting in a better place than we are. The thing is though, if we are to win the bonus then it means pushing them all the way, with only a four point cushion to rely on and if we are running them that close then obviously we will be in with a strong chance of banking all three points. It means we can't sit back any, something that is never in our psyche."
"We have riders who have gone well there in the past and this has all the makings of being a nail-biter. When we were there last year the meeting went into a super heat decider and it would be no surprise to me if we didn't find ourselves having to contest another this time around."

The Pirates are at full strength for the trip, but their hosts have been forced into a change following the sudden news that Connor Bailey had chosen to sit out the remainder of the season. Jordan Jenkins will guest for the Bears who have Charles Wright and Danny King heading their cast with a host of promising talent backing them with the likes of Jason Edwards and Dan Gilkes.

Teams
Redcar (TM Gavin Parr) 1 Charles Wright (Capt) 2 Jason Edwards 3 Dan Gilkes 4 Jordan Jenkins (Guest) 5 Danny King 6 Ben Trigger 7 Jake Mulford
Poole (TM Gary Havelock) 1 Richard Lawson 2 Tobias Thomsen 3 Tom Brennan 4 Zach Cook 5 Ben Cook (Capt) 6 Sam Hagon 7 Vinnie Foord