BACK TO BUSINESS FOR VICTORIOUS PIRATES

The Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates have scant time to truly enjoy and reflect on the magnitude of their dramatic SGB Cab Direct Championship Grand Final exploits as in 'double-quick' fashion the treble-seeking Pirates are straight back in action, with a visit to Redcar in the first leg of the BSN Series Final.

Whilst northern team manager Gary Havelock recognises the rationale behind having set today for the meeting, he does feel that it could leave Poole on the back foot. "It's not really ideal having to go to Redcar straight after a night like we had at Glasgow. Of course looking at it from the travelling point of view it makes sense, but sadly there is no time to really enjoy what they achieved, which was something truly remarkable. What a meeting that was. Every emotion possible was felt by each and every one of our riders and no doubt the fans who were up here, together with the thousands watching the TV. It was an incredible night that had absolutely everything, and the boys are bound to be really buzzing after that. So the job tonight will be to bring them back down to earth and get them focused on putting in another great display."

Captain Zach Cook led his side to the club's 12th league title under Matt Ford's ownership - their fourth second tier crown in just five seasons - with a match-winning paid 11 completing a remarkable sequence of scores in the last four meetings having dropped just seven points from a possible sixty plus leading home team-mate Richard Lawson for a 7-2 in the Grand Final superheat that a resilient Glasgow forced upon them in a memorable night at Ashfield. Afterwards an emotional Cook confessed "To be honest with you I had forgotten that we were riding tomorrow (Saturday 18th October) as I became so absorbed in this final so yeah, it's a case of a quick turn around I guess and go and do a job at Redcar to set it all up for a fabulous night at Poole next week and hopefully get the treble that I dearly want."

The Pirates this month, have already proved to be Redcar's nemesis having denied them a shot at the Grand Final with a semi-final second leg 48-42 win at the Ecco Arena on the 5th, and then secure the MaxiCAB Knockout cup with a stunning 51-39 second leg performance just over a week ago.

Tonight will be an emotional evening for the Bears who have enjoyed their best season in their history, reaching the final with a countback victory over Glasgow after their home second leg was cut short following a spectacular crash that led to three supporters suffering injuries when a bike flew into the crowd on the closing stages of heat fourteen. With the positive news on the injured, the victims will be special guests of the Redcar club for the final, and the Teesside club are nearly back to full-strength with impressive reserve Jody Scott back racing again after his concussion period ended last week. They continue to be without Erik Riss and, just as he did in the KO Cup final, Leon Flint will guest for them. Poole are unchanged.

Redcar (TM Gavin Parr) 1 Charles Wright (Capt) 2 Jake Mulford 3 Jason Edwards 4 Leon Flint (Guest) 5 Danny King 6 Jody Scott 7 Ace Pijper
Poole (TM Gary Havelock/Neil Middleditch) 1 Richard Lawson 2 Tobias Thomsen 3 Lewis Kerr 4 Zach Cook (Capt) 5 Anders Rowe 6 Paul Starke 7 William Cairns