Monday briefing

A look back at Saturday…

As the dust settles on the opening Cab Direct Championship fixture of the season it really does feel like the one that got away.

Having trailed by ten points going into heat five Poole, despite losing Zach Cook after a first ride fall, then pulled back eight points in the space of three heats.

The Pirates certainly found their gating gloves providing nine of the 15 heat winners – five in a row between heats nine and 13.

Having opened with a 5-1 over the pairing of Tom Brennan and the unlucky younger Cook brother, Jye Etheridge and Drew Kemp then found themselves on the wrong end of Poole maximum’s in their other heats together.

Track preparation continues to be a nightmare even with the season into the supposedly settled month of May. With the threat of overnight rain and a low cloud base all day the track team were faced with a huge dilemma. Reports of heavy thunderstorms as close as 30 miles away meant that less water than normal went into the surface overnight or during the afternoon. Matters weren’t helped by a drying wind which arrived around an hour before tapes-up.

Danyon Hume certainly seemed to be a victim of the gates conundrum, two race wins and two fourths his tally for the night. Gate three dominated proceedings, producing seven heat winners, one the next best with four, three from the widest berth and just one – Lawson’s heat 11 effort – from two.

Booking guests can often become a game of chance but no question we’ve managed the right men for the job replacing Lewis Kerr at home this season.

It’s worth remembering that our number one’s last appearance was a match-winning 13-point haul against Glasgow in the BSN Series, so big boots to fill.

Since then Lawson, twice, and Pickering have managed 36 points (and four bonus) from 15 starts at a CMA of exactly 10. A pretty sound return.

Sam Hagon had a week to remember, and covered some miles, the Essex teenager winning the British under-21 qualifier at Plymouth with a 15-point maximum, easing the Pirates into the KO Cup semi-finals at Edinburgh, taking the phone call which led to him being unveiled at Leicester’s Rising Star in the Premiership and then celebrating with a Championship-best 11+1 in front of his new top league boss Stewart Dickson.

Poole have now won two of their four visits to Shielfield Park. There has been one Bandits’ victory in the series, also by two points in 2021, Tom Brennan a match-winning guest for us that night, and a draw.

Redcar are our next visitors; the Bandits having ended a five-match home losing streak (11 home and away) in spectacular fashion last season.

Former Bandit Jonas Knudsen returns to Shielfield in Bears’ colours and the Cleveland side will be running a guest for Danny King who faces a month on the sidelines after surgery on a broken hand.

Much-touted by the tipsters pre-season the Bears have had a tough start to the campaign losing all four of their BSN Series fixtures but beating Workington home and away in the Knockout Cup.

Quote unquote

“The only way to get over this defeat and lift the fans is to prepare for Redcar and put it right on the track,” manager Stewart Dickson.

“Frustrating, very frustrating,” skipper Rory Schlein reflects both on the result and the last heat decider on Saturday. “We began well enough but as the gates began to swing we didn’t adapt quickly enough.”

Richard Lawson on his match-winning heat 15 ride for the Pirates: “There wasn’t much room and there was really only one option and I took it.

“To be fair to Schleiny he rode me very hard but it was fair. It takes two to make for a good race. This is a track you can ride hard on, for sure, but against the right opponent. It can be sketchy but when there is good fair racing it is good.”

Bad news for the Championship and good news for his growing Bandits’ fanbase, Bastian has only just begun! “It was a tough match against a good team. Personally had some good overtakes but overall not quite happy with tonight’s presentation.”

Drew Kemp: “Absolute mare of a week. Sometimes it doesn’t work out. Onto next week.”

Pictures: Taylor Lanning