Steve Shovlar

Forecast has got worse for tomorrow. Saying rain from early tomorrow evening. Hopefully its wrong but if not an early decision as being selfish I am up north and driving a long way back for this.😅Friday would be perfect 😍

With only one meeting left for Poole this season, eyes are now turning to next season. If the league remains the same, then Pirates team is basically sorted. Lawson, Cook, Rowe, Bailey, Cairns, Rushen. Leaving one spot for a second string. Bailey, Rushen and Cairns will have very limited experience between them meaning we could be very vulnerable at times but a mixture of experience and youngsters could make for a very exciting team. Thoughts?

Just caught up with the stream. Another good performance from the boys lining us up nicely for the treble on Wednesday night. Let’s hope the wet weather predicted holds off. Though next Friday is predicted dry. Charles Wright the meeting winner for Redcar. His best performance against us this season? Some of the Poole boys looked tired. Not surprising after the night before.

Likewise re: Kerr. He was extremely poor for2/3rds of the season. Plagued by bike issues and lacking the confidence but in the last few weeks he has ridden much more to his ability and last night made a crucial pass of Thompson which helped win the meeting.

Fantastically The Greatest.

Agree. It felt BSN were there to crown Glasgow. First thing they did instead of celebrating the victorious team was a dour interview of Harris being disappointed. What about showing the victorious team?

Are Redcar full strength? (guest for Riss) Is Scott riding? Pirates will keep this close tomorrow and get the treble on Wednesday in front of a big crowd to end the season.

Very biased towards Glasgow tonight.

Me too with daughter. See you there!

And now people know why Poole took all the dirt off in the first leg. Why on earth would they have wanted Bomber doing what he did tonight at Wimborne Road? Perfect tactics by the Poole management and although it wasn’t pretty to watch, it produced the near perfect result. For those that have had a pile on about Poole’s track for the first leg, do you people honestly believe it is like that every week? Seriously? The tactics worked, we pulled out a twelve point lead and with fair luck we would have had the title sewn up before heat 15 tonight. Howarth dirty riding against Cook (be honest it wasn’t a clean move) Lawsons fall (he said he took a slight nudge a little earlier in the bend which unbalanced him but accepted the EX). And then Cairns chain coming off in heat 14 cost us the win in heat 15 when 3-3 would have been enough. Glasgow looked so strong in the middle part of the meeting but Pirates were gating well. Harris was on his best form and unstoppable. You just knew he would hunt down and pass both Poole boys in heat 15. So a superheat it was. We won the toss and took 2 and 4. Same riders. Fancied our chances. When we gated and saw Harris in third but Howarth at the back, I knew even Harris couldn’t save the day. Totally brilliant. Commiserations to Glasgow who put up a great fight. They were slight favourites going into the final and with any other team would have won it comfortably. But Pirates have that one ingredient money cannot buy. The knowledge of winning when it matters most. A great final which knocked that rubbish Premier League final into a cocked hat. Now onto tomorrow and the BSN Final first leg at Redcar.

You coming to Palace tomorrow Kevin?

Pirates should have had that sewn up well before heat 15. Lawson fall and Cairns EF took us to a superheat but I fancied our chances with Richard and X]Zack over Howarth. Pirates fully deserved that. Backs to the wall but never blinked. My nerves are frazzled. Brilliant stuff.

Commiserations to Glasgow.

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!! Fully deserved!!!!!!

Lawson fall has just cost us but fairs fair. If he had stayed on Glasgow would have needed a 5-1 to draw.

Could be Game over there. Lawson lightly touched but not enough.

Nothing miracle about it. Out of action for ten days and still have fatigue. Most people recover from it.

If that’s aimed at me Neil you couldn’t be more wrong. I am 110% behind the Pirates. I just don’t think we are going to get a 5-1 every heat. Rob’s coming around with a few beers at 7 and we will be cheering on the Pirates this evening. If we come up short, I will happily congratulate Glasgow on their title.

Interesting to note that BSN have put up their prices by £2 tonight. Usually £12.99, tonight £14.99.

Not for us Poole fans, who were the paying customers last night. As I said earlier, I doubt a Poole fan left the stadium last night disappointed in the racing. It’s a final. It’s all about winning.

Not fully recovered but recovered enough not to be contagious. That’s what happens. People get ill with covid, then the majority get better over a period.

There’s no doubt Ipswich had a humongous attendance at the second leg. But where are these people in a normal league fixture. Ipswich as a town support their sporting clubs. And they came out in unprecedented numbers against Leicester. Biggest crowd I had seen since the huge crowds at Poole in the early 2000’s.

It was clear when I arrived that all the dirt had been taken off as per instructions. It was obvious that we didn’t want Bomber blasting around the outside. Why would us Pirates fans want to see that last night? Seriously? Armchair fans in Bognor Regis or Cleethorpes might be wanting it but not the fans in the big crowd at Wimborne Road. We want to see Poole rides crossing the line in heat advantages. The Poole management made the call to give themselves the maximum opportunity to come away with the biggest lead possible. In that they were successful. Let me say this. The crowd were up for it and I doubt any left frustrated over poor racing and no entertainment. They left buzzing after pulling out a decent lead. And that’s all that matters.

So 12 points it is. Should have been a bigger margin but silly errors cost us. Starke in heat two getting slower and slower allowing Hodder by. Tobias in heat 6 when he should have settled for a 3rd and a 4-2. Still 12 points is a good defendable lead to take to the second leg. Pirates stood tall to the 5 Glasgow heat leaders, with the reserves cancelling themselves out. I said there is little between the reserves and so it proved (one point) Got a shock in heat 15 when Poole choose 1 and 3. Lawson had just been beaten by Harris in heat 13 and the two lined up alongside each other again. This time no mistake and Lawson rocketed from the tapes to lead. Cook then made a superb cutback down the back straight to come up the inside of Harris and sealed the 5-1, for the Pirates faithful to take the roof off the stadium. Brilliant stuff. Is 12 enough? I think it’s going to be very close but the boys have given themselves a good chance on Friday night.

Weather is good. Overcast and dry all day. Perfect for this evening. Pirates have got to be on it to a man to take a decent lead up to Glasgow on Friday. No EF’s, no silly falls. 12 point lead required.