Pirates fend off Monarchs to close the gap on leaders Lions

Poole Pirates closed the gap on leaders Leicester Lions to just a single point after a home 49-41 victory over the visiting Edinburgh Monarchs at Poole Stadium on Wednesday.

Despite Poole holding a 12 point advantage after heat nine, the Monarchs pushed Pirates all the way in the remaining six heats of the meeting to narrowly miss out on a consolation point.

The visiting Monarchs took the opening heat of the night with a 4-2 heat advantage and a win for captain Sam Masters

Pirates hit back in the next heat with a 4-2 of their own after Australian Drew Kemp took the chequered flag with his partner Nathan Ablitt finishing in third after Jacob Hook was excluded.

The first heat maximum fell to the hosts in heat three, compliments of Steve Worrall and Ben Cook following another fall from a Monarchs rider, with Kye Thomson.

Edinburgh’s Jason Edwards was a busy rider after completing three rides in the opening four heats with four points scored.

Heat five saw Masters just get the better of Worrall after overtaking Worrall before the third bend of the last lap for a share of the points.

By heat seven Poole had an advantage of eight points after their second 5-1 of the night with a 1-2 from Richard Lawson and Kemp.

In the next heat the Australian reserve Kemp took a nasty fall and took a while to get up. After a slight delay he was up on his feet looking a little shaken with what looked like a problem with his wrist. This appeared to hamper him for the remainder of the meeting where he struggled to pick up another point.

Pirates picked up another heat maximum in heat nine with Worrall and Ben Cook making it a 1-2 for the hosts with a super ride from Cook to see off the challenge of Masters.

The remaining heats saw no more 5-1’s for Pirates, with Monarchs picking up points to put the pressure on the home side.

The race of the night was the penultimate heat with Ben Cook coming from third place to first to conclude a productive eight points on the night from the Australian to help Pirates to yet another home win and keep tabs on leaders Leicester.

Poole Pirates  49  Edinburgh Monarchs  41

By Peter Moore at Poole Stadium

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