Anyone who thought thar Horspath would be pushovers without their four high scoring Poles was in for a shock. This was an epic battle which swung back and forth and was only decided in the closing heats as the twelve times champions pressed home their slender advantage. Pete Young found himself back in the pits courtesy of referee Bob Prince in heat 1 after obstructing Steve Harris and the resulting three point deficit was not clawed back until heat 6 when Mark Boaler earned the first of 2 exclusions. Chris Roberts and Mark Everingham capitalised with a 7-2  and Young made up for his previous misdemeanour by teaming up with pacey Ben Donohue for a 6-3 in the seventh.

 

The 7 point interval advantage was whittled away in heat 10 as Hospath battled for a 6-4 and then a costly exclusion for Adam Peck in the 14th gifted the visitors a 6-3 as Andre Cross could only split his opponants leaving the scoreline 69-67 with  four races remaining. Heat 15 was a real classic as Richard Clanfield showed a glimpse of his true talent with a fine race win while Donohue once again found himself in the thick of the action, securing a vital third place.

 

Mark Everingham saved his best race of the day till his last in heat 16 gating hard from grid 2 then drawing a second exclusion from do or die Mark Boaler which made the match virtually safe with a resultant 6-3. With a 7 point advantage and the insides starting grids in the penultimate race, Pete Young rounded off a fine captain's performance with his fourth race win of the day and with Adam Peck fighting hard to hold on the the vital third place, progress throught to the next round was assured. Chris Roberts answered any fitness doubts with his third win of the day in the final race.

 

This was a good team performance and despite being short of their best form and fitness, Dave Murphy and Andre Cross contributed 14 valuable points between them as their cool headed experience helped win the day. With 4 weeks until the next round, there is still work to do but with Aaron Lowey about to return to the saddle, the signs are brighter. Horspath deserve full credit for their battling performance without their four top Poles but they lacked top end fire power and were only able to provide 6 heat winners.

 

Poole Scorers - Pete Young 16, Chris Roberts 16, Mark Everingham 14+1, Adam Peck 11+1, Richard Clanfield 11+1, Ben Donohue 10, Andre Cross 8, Dave Murphy 6+1).

Referee - Bob Prince.