Powerful Pirates end Bears play-off hopes!
POOLE stormed to a 48-42 away win in the play-off semi-final second leg (84-96 on aggregate) to qualify for the Grand Final against Glasgow. Lewi Kerr starred for Poole with 13 whilst Redcar’s guest, Jake Allen struck paid 11 for the “Agilia” Bears.
The visitors were the faster starters for the majority of the night with the reigning league champions never falling behind on the night. The disappointed Bears boss, Gavin Parr admitted his side were beaten by the better team.
Parr said, “ Poole were the better side over the two legs, the boys tried their hearts out but we weren’t quite there tonight against a solid side.”
The meeting started with an exhilarating battle between Tobias Thomsen and Charles Wright after Adam Ellis retired from the race on bend four of lap one. Wright was on Thomsen’s back wheel for much of the race, and coming off the final bend, the Bears captain looked to have got the win, but Thomsen won by 0.043 seconds to keep the deficit at six points.
Heat two saw the first controversial moment of the second leg as Ace Pijper hit the deck on the opening bends, with the referee electing to exclude the Bears reserve. The re-run saw the Pirates gate, and with Jack Smith falling, (the guest reserve remounted for the point), Poole recorded a big 5-1 to open up a 10 point lead on aggregate.
After a shared heat three won by Allen, more drama followed in heat four. Poole’s Anders Rowe and Will Cairns gated, but Danny King was all over both Pirates heading into lap two. The first bend saw King move through into second after slight contact with Cairns, but moments later, Cairns went down, with the referee excluding King.
The re-run saw Pijper limit the damage and finish 2nd behind Rowe, but with Cairns in an unopposed 3rd, Poole had a 12 point lead. Heat five saw Redcar’s middle order provide a heat advantage as Jason Edwards won, and with Allen 3rd, the Bears reduced the arrears to 10 points.
Heat six saw the Redcar support begin to believe as the Bears drew level on the night and pulled back within six on aggregate as Wright won, and with Jake Mulford battling for 2nd to keep Rowe behind him, the ECCO Arena was dreaming of a Grand Final place.
However, Poole regained the initiative as the impressive Kerr took his first win of the evening, and with Zach Cook 3rd, the Pirates moved eight ahead. Heat eight saw Poole hit a devastating maximum to deflate the Bears as Cairns won, and with Thomsen 2nd, the visitors were in total control on Teesside.
Heat nine saw the impressive Allen register another win, and with Edwards 3rd, Redcar were within 10 of the Pirates but running out of heats. Heat 10 saw another hammer blow for the hosts as Kerr won again, and with Cook 2nd, Poole were almost there.
After Ellis registered his first win in a shared heat 11, one of the Bears shining lights, Jason Edwards took his second chequered flag of the match to win heat 12, and with Smith 3rd, the Bears were still mathematically in the contest.
However, any lingering hopes of qualification were ended in heat 13 as Ellis won a shared race to secure Poole’s play-off progression. Heat 14 saw Zach Cook take the win, with the shared race enough to secure the away win on the night.
The final race saw Ellis excluded for attempting to pass Allen up the inside on bend two of the opening lap. The re-run saw Kerr gate for the win to secure a mightily impressive 48-42 away win at the ECCO Arena.
The Bears now must dust themselves down and focus on another huge week with the MAXiCab KO Cup Final to contest plus a tasty BSN Series semi-final clash against Glasgow on Sunday.
Redcar Bears = 42 (84)
1. Charles Wright = 8
2. Jake Mulford = 3+2
3. Jason Edwards = 9
4. Jake Allen (G) = 10+1
5. Danny King = 5+1
6. Jack Smith (G) = 3+2
7. Ace Pijper = 4
Poole Pirates =48 (96)
1. Adam Ellis (G) = 8
2. Tobias Thomson = 5+1
3. Lewis Kerr = 13
4. Zach Cook = 7+2
5. Anders Rowe = 6
6. Paul Starke = 2+1
7. William Cairns = 7