LisaColette Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) https://www.poole-speedway.com/news/view/2022-07-05-pirates-set-to-complete-away-league-programme The Pirates are scheduled to complete their away league programme this coming weekend with back to back meetings against northern sides Edinburgh and Berwick. Currently in a position that sees them stretching to grab hold of an automatic play-off semi-final claim, the defending champions will be hoping to keep the travelling league points flowing. Only once this season have they left a venue, other than Wimborne Road, without any reward for their efforts - when, at the beginning of May, they were soundly defeated at Plymouth. Regular team manager Neil Middleditch will be hoping that his northern stand-in, former world champion Gary Havelock, can maintain his record and ensure the Pirates return with something to show from these final two fixtures. With the Pirates having collected their first victory in four matches on Wednesday when they defeated the Chris Harris-led Berwick Bandits, Middleditch has assessed his side's recent form claiming, "Our biggest problem lately has been that we've not been making the starts and that has just made it hard work for ourselves, especially over the first few heats. We need to get that sorted, especially in the early part of the meetings. We need to make those starts and get the advantage so that, if they have got to make a tactical, they make it early, and then we can get on with the meeting. Philosophically, 'Middlo', who will be watching the Pirates progress this weekend on the BSN Livestream service as both fixtures are being covered, insists Poole's hopes of defending their crown are, however, not totally reliant on this weekend's results. "Obviously it is a long way to go, and to come back with nothing wouldn't be ideal so there is no doubt we will be looking to try and get a couple of wins under our belt, especially as we are keen to try and secure one of the top two places, which would see us go directly into the semi-final places. Our recent dip in form has made achieving that a little bit harder , but, whilst I know the lads will be determined to go out and get the best possible results, we just need to make sure that, at the very minimum we reach the play-offs come the end of the season. Then anything can happen. We have seen it before that teams can win titles from just getting in the play-offs. We have done that ourselves before and of course we have been on the other end of topping the table but losing the title, so we have to remember there is a lot of speedway still to come this year. Nothing has been won at this stage." The mini-tour takes the Pirates to two venues where the current league pacesetters - Leicester and Glasgow - have both recorded victories at. The weekend action begins on Friday (July 8th) at the Armadale venue in the Scottish capital, the present home, until the end of the season, of the Edinburgh Monarchs, who have just revealed plans for a new community based stadium to be built in the Livingstone area. Around Armadale, the Monarchs' number one, Sam Masters, has been in imperious form of late, where he has suffered just one race defeat by an opponent in his last twenty rides and they have recently welcomed back both Lasse Fredriksen and James Sarjeant from injury lay-offs to become a full-strength side again. Although the Pirates managed to inflict an eight-point home win over the Monarchs on June 1st, that victory came just prior to the three meetings in which they failed to secure a victory, a period they ended last Wednesday with a defeat of Berwick, where they head to on Saturday (July 9th). Besides having home defeats inflicted on the by the top two sides, the Bandits have also been beaten at Shielfield Park by the Redcar Bears and the Borders' side, who recently introduced Dane Jonas Knudsen, a rider that caught the eye on Wednesday, currently occupy the basement berth in the league table, after the demise of the near neighbours Newcastle. The Pirates, who do not have a home fixture this week, currently sit in third place, two points behind Glasgow - a side that visits Birmingham (9th) on Wednesday night - and have a three point cushion over west country rivals Plymouth who travel to Oxford (8th) also on Wednesday. The introduction of the new averages for July sees Steve Worrall and Danny King switch places in the team whilst Drew Kemp will move into the number two position and the previous incumbent, Zach Cook, switching to number four as his brother Ben drops into the reserve berth. Weekend Line-ups: Edinburgh: 1 Sam Masters (capt); 2 Lasse Fredriksen; 3. Kye Thomson; 4 Michele 'Paco' Castagna; 5 Josh Pickering; 6 Jacob Hook; 7 James Sarjeant TM Alex Harkess Berwick: To be Confirmed: Poole (both meetings) : 1 Steve Worrall; 2 Drew Kemp; 3 Danny King (capt); 4 Zach Cook; 5 Richard Lawson; 6 Ben Cook; 7 Nathan Ablitt TM Gary Havelock Edited July 7, 2022 by lisa-colette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickie Head Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 Poole currently out of form. 10 point home win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaColette Posted July 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 26 minutes ago, Dickie Head said: Poole currently out of form. 10 point home win. Will be interesting as both teams are top heavy. Will need Drew, Ben and Zach to get 6+ each to win I think as I would assume Josh and Sam to be close to maximums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaizer Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 27 minutes ago, lisa-colette said: Will be interesting as both teams are top heavy. Will need Drew, Ben and Zach to get 6+ each to win I think as I would assume Josh and Sam to be close to maximums. Probably wanted Kemp at reserve for this one at his former track 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crescent girl Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Jaizer said: Probably wanted Kemp at reserve for this one at his former track Kemp's performances at Armadale were very mixed, from maximum to very, very poor. Friday's result hangs on which Drew Kemp turns up. Edited July 7, 2022 by crescent girl Date 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaColette Posted July 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 15 minutes ago, crescent girl said: Kemp's performances at Armadale were very mixed, from maximum to very, very poor. Tonight's result hangs on which Drew Kemp turns up. Tomorrow you mean! Is Thursday so bad you want it to be Friday already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaizer Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 48 minutes ago, crescent girl said: Kemp's performances at Armadale were very mixed, from maximum to very, very poor. Tonight's result hangs on which Drew Kemp turns up. Thought he got better as time went on. Was certainly better at armadale than he was at ashfield. Think he'd outscore what B Cook will score, can't imagine suits his style so well. Z Cook will think it's torun compared to Plymouth lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Jamie Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 1 hour ago, lisa-colette said: I would assume Josh and Sam to be close to maximums. Not sure about that. Between the 4 meetings between the sides last season and the recent Wimborne Road clash, Josh has only won 3 out of 23 races. His 40 points scored only averages 6.96. Indeed, in the two fixtures at sunny Armadale, he's returned a somewhat miserable 15 pts from 9 rides, an average of just 6.67. Much improvement required. As for Sam, even though he's only won 13 out of his 29 heats, at least he's averaging 9.24. Almost acceptable. Big test this Friday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crescent girl Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 1 hour ago, lisa-colette said: Tomorrow you mean! Is Thursday so bad you want it to be Friday already! Indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff100 Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 Sign of the times early july and poole complete there away fixtures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmuncie Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 A bigger match for the Monarchs than for the Pirates this one, 2 home wins for the Monarchs against Poole then Plymouth next week should guarentee a playoff spot. Poole still racing for the top 2 and playoff bye though so will be looking to make it a hat trick of victories at Armadale. a rare delight that as it stands both teams will field their declared 1-7’s For those looking to stream the match the BSN are in town and your only option (unless a Monarchs season ticket holder or emtv subscriber) Fingers crossed the BSN have sorted the issues that blighted them last time they visited Armadale or everyone misses out. Another sad outcome is that anyone wanting to stream the Northern Junior League match that follows will not be able to do so live this will be available on demand from the Monarchs website on Saturday afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbw Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) I'm travelling up for the Northern Tour 2 good wins to round off our away championship meetings will do luvvly jubbly C'MON THE PIRATES Edited July 7, 2022 by Turnip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaColette Posted July 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 3 hours ago, King Jamie said: Not sure about that. Between the 4 meetings between the sides last season and the recent Wimborne Road clash, Josh has only won 3 out of 23 races. His 40 points scored only averages 6.96. Indeed, in the two fixtures at sunny Armadale, he's returned a somewhat miserable 15 pts from 9 rides, an average of just 6.67. Much improvement required. As for Sam, even though he's only won 13 out of his 29 heats, at least he's averaging 9.24. Almost acceptable. Big test this Friday! Hmm, Poole team was a lot stronger all the way through though last year. How Kye does might be more of an impact on who wins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaColette Posted July 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 2 hours ago, Turnip said: I'm travelling up for the Northern Tour 2 good wins to round off our away championship meetings will do luvvly jubbly C'MON THE PIRATES You're back!! Maybe you should change your name to The Terminator lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehone Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 not been to Edinburgh for a few years but always rained when i've been before, lets hope for a better evening tomorrow. hope to do Berwick too after the GB meeting at Glasgow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edmon Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 2 hours ago, gmuncie said: Another sad outcome is that anyone wanting to stream the Northern Junior League match that follows will not be able to do so live this will be available on demand from the Monarchs website on Saturday afternoon. What is the NJL match as there was nothing on the fixture list at the start of the season? Don't know why clubs keep these matches secret? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaizer Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 4 minutes ago, stevehone said: not been to Edinburgh for a few years but always rained when i've been before, lets hope for a better evening tomorrow. hope to do Berwick too after the GB meeting at Glasgow Believe it or not the mercury has gone over 20 up here today!! Summer may actually have arrived. Think few showers about tomorrow but nothing that should endanger the meeting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmuncie Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 34 minutes ago, edmon said: What is the NJL match as there was nothing on the fixture list at the start of the season? Don't know why clubs keep these matches secret? Armadale vs Teeside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triple.H. Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Jaizer said: Believe it or not the mercury has gone over 20 up here today!! Summer may actually have arrived. Think few showers about tomorrow but nothing that should endanger the meeting Fahrenheit ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fortythirtyeight Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 1 hour ago, edmon said: What is the NJL match as there was nothing on the fixture list at the start of the season? Don't know why clubs keep these matches secret? Why don’t you try looking on the NJL section of this forum ? No secrets whatsoever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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