CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY OFF FINAL - SCUNTHORPE v POOLE v SCUNTHORPE (2 & 7 October)

[SteveArena]

Didnt mention his mate LBW and the flat white.

[Steve Shovlar]

Enjoying a double espresso and watching the replay.

Edited 3 hours ago by Steve Shovlar

[Arthur54]

1 hour ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Finally got home at 3am due to road closures and the need to stop for a coffee. In future can our opposition finalists live a bit further south please. Very inconvenient for us to be expected to travel so far. 😩 6 hours.30 mins going up and 5.30 coming back.

Had a quick chat with Tai Woffinden on entering the stadium. Wished him the best for his future and his testimonial today. Never was a fan of his during his career but he came across as a decent chap willing to have a convo. Hope he gets a good turnout today.

Onto the racing. As expected in the early heats, there was only going to be one side in it and so it proved. Scunthorpe had their setups bang on and in heat one when Mountain rocketed from the tapes I knew we were going to find it difficult. If it had been Pickering I would have felt better but even though Cairns was second and Cook was nibbling Pickering back wheel, it was obvious what was going to happen.

Pirates were on the pace but only after the first 50 metres and by then it was too late. Lawson had a bit of a mare and was left for dead by riders he really should be beating in Ingram and Harrison. Ingram in particular looking like a top heat leader. Quite hard and borderline dirty on Lightcap in his albeit successful attempt of getting through in one heat. Lightcap laying it down would no doubt have resulted in Ingrams exclusion but it would have been extremely dangerous.

With the scores 29-19 it was extremely concerning, but then Pirates rallied. Rushen and Kerr gated in front of Pickering and it took Pickering two laps to get into second, which gave Cooper 5 metres more breathing space to get over then line. The team got better out of the starts and a 5-1 closed things up. Howe then made a tactical error not swapping Ablitt for Ingram and then the same vice versa the following heat which allowed the pairing of Hook and Ablitt in the same heat, and bang, it was game on. Only 4 points in it.

It was then apparent that we couldn’t lose by more than 16 with three heats left. Then Cook and Lawson popped out to keep Harrison at bay and the lead couldn’t be bigger than 12. The feeling of relief was starting to appear. Heat 14 and Rushen took the lead but Palm Toft who had been unbeaten all night knew the fasted lines and picked off the youngster on the third lap. But we couldn’t lose only lose by ten. Would I have taken that before the meeting?

Heat 15 and Pickering and the unbeaten Palm Toft was looking formidable, but Cook split them, meaning Scunthorpe come to Wimborne Road with only an eight point lead. Pirates fought hard and what could have been a Scunthorpe/Glasgow lead ended up half the size.  Relief. 

Scunthorpe have de field all the odds to make the Grand Final. No one realistically thought they would finish anywhere other than the foot of the table. They have proved everyone wrong. They are formidable at the Eddie Wright Raceway. The racing dished up on this circuit is top notch. Just a shame they struggle with crowd size and atmosphere. The effort by the management is clear to see. The crowd last night was decent though quiet. Perhaps there were a lot of people in the stadium who came along for the first time and didn’t understand what they were witnessing. The Centre Green mic man didn’t help getting the place buzzing if I am honest. At Poole the roof would have been blown clean off the grandstand those first 7 heats.

So onto Wednesday at Poole. Are Pirates fans feeling confident of pulling back the 8 points? We have to be. The threat of Pickering is still there. Top rider. But Palm-Toft, Mountain, Harrison and especially young Ingram are not the riders they are at the Eddie Wright Raceway. Throw in Hook and Ablitt and if we don’t get the job done, the plaudits to Scunthorpe will be fully deserved.

For Scunthorpe, Pickering was sublime. Hit the fence in one heat trying so hard.

Palm-Toft was on the form of the season.

Harrison is clearly one for the future

Hook and Ablitt were abject.

Mountain did his job.

Ingram looks a heat leader at home and a novice away. Time will tell if he can build himself up to have the same confidence away that he has here.

 

For Poole, Cook started slowly but improved as the night went on.

Cairns battles for everything and of course is very raw. Good effort.

Kerr was steady if unspectacular.

Rushen was excellent. Keep battling Coops.

Lawson was very poor by his standards. Five rides and never fast enough.

Newman managed to beat Ablitt but that was it. Not the type of track he can doo much on.

Lightcap was very good. Unlucky in one heat when he was borderline unfairly barged past.
 

 

 

 

 

 

What was your take on the alleged tyre warming in heat 8 Steve 

Edited 3 hours ago by Arthur54

[Steve Shovlar]

5 minutes ago, Arthur54 said:

What was your take on the alleged tyre warming in heat 8 Steve 

Didn’t noticing anything at all. And nobody around me did either. Straw clutching.

[SpeedwaySlider72]

8 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Didn’t noticing anything at all. And nobody around me did either. Straw clutching.

Cairns appears to have a clear disregard for sportsmanship given his ongoing carry on at the start line. Maybe he will grow out of this behaviour.

Edited 3 hours ago by SpeedwaySlider72

[Pirates Of Poole]

Well that was a long drive! Scunthorpe really had the advantage and after the earlier heats, I though this could be 12-16 point loss. But the boys finally came good, the HL's didn't turn up for Poole until after their second rides and Lawson looked poor all night to be honest.

All to play for Wednesday.

Special mention to the Scunthorpe fans, really friendly and chatty! 

 

[Neila]

29 minutes ago, Arthur54 said:

What was your take on the alleged tyre warming in heat 8 Steve 

Same old pilots always cheating 😜🤣🔵⚪🏁

[SPEEDY69]

40 minutes ago, Arthur54 said:

What was your take on the alleged tyre warming in heat 8 Steve 

I don't think it was alleged, it was clearly evidenced on TV with the clouds of smoke from burning rubber filling the air. Unless BSN used AI to create it...... 

[topaz325]

I assume the distance travelled was a weak attempt at sarcasm.

[Gavan]

44 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Didn’t noticing anything at all. And nobody around me did either. Straw clutching.

Moron 

it’s clearly obvious 

[lucifer sam]

1 hour ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Didn’t noticing anything at all. And nobody around me did either. Straw clutching.

Are there no opticians in Poole? 

[SteveLyric2]

Did the big home crowd give a good round of applause to Harrison on his final Scunny home meeting?

[old bob at herne bay]

4 hours ago, TheWellBehavedWorrall said:

He was warming his tyre before heat eight which is an illegal action, as deemed by not just the sport of speedway, but FIM.

The rules on it are black and white: if you do it, you’re excluded. Cairns did it and wasn’t.

He subsequently won the race and until heat fourteen, it was the only time any rider had done so from gate three.

Like I said, I really rate Cairns and found him pure entertainment against Redcar. We could all argue until we’re blue in the face about whether or not he gained an unfair advantage, but the rules are very simple; it’s illegal.

Here’s the incident:

Should his 3 points be deducted and the match score changed ahead of the second leg given the clear and unrefutable video evidence of rule breaking? 

[Paul Johnson]

Bowes warmed his tyre ht 3 n the KOC and was excluded after video evidence, This ref wasnt interested in any viewing,

 

[Steve Shovlar]

  Not surprising as he was just clearing the smoke out of his exhaust. 

[LisaColette]

18 minutes ago, Paul Johnson said:

Bowes warmed his tyre ht 3 n the KOC and was excluded after video evidence, This ref wasnt interested in any viewing,

 

Interesting both times were at Scunny and not at different tracks. Why are they doing it at Scunny and nowhere else? 🤔

[Mgas]

1 minute ago, LisaColette said:

Interesting both times were at Scunny and not at different tracks. Why are they doing it at Scunny and nowhere else? 🤔

That’s completely irrelevant. It’s against the rules.

[LisaColette]

4 minutes ago, Mgas said:

That’s completely irrelevant. It’s against the rules.

No, it isn't irrelevant. I want to know why. 

[Mgas]

14 minutes ago, LisaColette said:

No, it isn't irrelevant. I want to know why. 

Because they are cheats 

[Colinspeedway]

Poole cheating surely not