Against the reigning British Team champions on their unraceably dry Winchester Road circuit, Poole almost pulled off the shock result of the quarter final  round against the specially "strengthened" Saints who clung on in the final heat despite a heroic effort from the Sea View boys. With Ian Woodhouse and Lee Galley recalled by Southampton for their first match of the season and with Aaron Lowey unavailable for Poole, few would have given the visitors any chance at all but they battled all the way and only a spate of puzzlingly inconsistent refereeing decisions in heats 16 and 17 prevented them from securing a famous victory.

 

The home side provided the early race winners but Poole picked up shared heats with great passes by Chris Roberts and Dave Murphy in heats 1 & 2 and again in heat 5 when Ben Donohue outpaced Toby Millen to make the scoreline 26-24.

Then in heat 6, Nathan Harris got his marching oders for forcing Dave Murphy across the white line and Pete Young followed for moving at the tapes. Gavin Wheeler could not gate round Murphy from grid 4 in the two-man re-run but as he rounded him on turn one of lap 3 he leant in too heavily causing both riders to fall. Poole were awarded a 4-0 much to dissenting outburst from the Saints side of the pits but it was difficult to see what other decision could be made.

 

Toby Millen beat opposition riders for the only time of the day in heat 7 to level the score at 32-32 then more controversy in heat 8 when Poole were trailing badly only for Chris Roberts to haul in the Woodhouse pairing on the final lap and draw an exclusion from Shaun who dumped Chris unceremoniously over the outside white line. Following that 5-4 win a Young/Cross 5-5 behind Harris in heat 9 gave Poole a slender 41-42 interval advantage.

 

Saints came out fighting and slammed in 3 heat wins in four races after the break with star home duo Gavin Wheeler and Shaun Woodhouse inspiring 7-3's in heats 11 & 13 made easier by a Chris Roberts exclusion on the first bend of the 13th when the race should have been allowed to continue. Home riders continued to dominate the race wins in heat 14 with another share of the spoils taking the scoreline to 71-61 with 4 heats remaining. Poole were seemingly dead and buried and another 5-5 was on the cards in heat 15 but Ian Woodhouse left insufficient room for Adam Peck whilst trying to defend his lead and picked up an exclusion leaving Poole to collect a 7-2 against Colin Wheeler in the re-start.

 

Heat 16 was highly controversial as the Poole pairing of Murphy and Everingham sprung from the tapes for a 7-3 only for Murphy to be sent careering over the outide line by Harris in a desperate effort to rescue the heat at the end of lap 3.

Inexplicably the Saints rider was not ruled out and the incident blamed on the track which was duly swept by order of the referee. Murphy was already nursing an injury from his earlier tumble and unfit for the re-start so reserve Andre Cross was drafted in for his 5th ride of the day. He did not disappoint and capped his man of the match performance with a great piece of team riding to hold on to the 7-3 which appeared to have been stolen away moments earlier. The 10 point arrears was hauled back to a nailbiting 76-75 whereas a rightfully expected 7-2 would have justifiably levelled it.

 

It was make or break for both teams in the 17th which drew countless nervy re-starts but when the action did get under way Saints were on to a 6-4 with Galley leading Peck and Shaun Woodhouse holding off Young who then produced a brilliant pass on the Saints star man only for Shaun to pull off an almost identical move to that of Gavin Wheeler heat 6. Shaun leant in forcefully and he and Pete hit the deck heavily but this time the track was blamed again when the home rider was clearly the prime culprit. From his gate 2, Peck had previously held off Woodhouse in all the previous re-starts but this time the Saints pair were away for a match winning 7-3 until the final bend when Adam caught Galley napping and dived in to square the heat with Pete Young following through.

 

Referee Dave Hunting made his most questionable decision of the day by excluding Peck even though Galley did not fall off and remained in control of his bike which seemed totally inconsistent with the two preceding and much more serious incidents which were both blamed on the track! This incensed the normally calm Poole team management team and rightly so as the decision was simply mystifying. The Saints were dealt a huge get-out-of-jail card with a  6-3 heat win which they did not deserve, extending their match advantage to  82-78 with one race to go. Gavin Wheeler wrapped up the win by taking heat 18 but the reigning champions were given one hell of a match.

 

Semi-finals day was always going to be the poorer without one of these teams, whatever the outcome of this match but if the 2006 final produces half as much drama and determined riding by two totally committed and well matched sides then everyone at Coventry on September 10th is in for a treat. Sadly the 12 times champions will not be there this time!

 

This was a solid team performance by Poole who monopolised the bonus points whereas the home side won the lions share of the races with 15 out of 18. Andre Cross had probably his best ever match for the club and Mark Everingham produced some gutsy rides under pressure. Lady luck probably favoured Poole up the the break but vanished thereafter. Ultimately, the outcome hinged on two key (Suffolk) players in heat 17...... maybe there was more to that baffling exclusion than was visible to the naked eye! 

 

Scorers:- Andre Cross 14+3, Mark Everingham 13+2, Chris Roberts 12+1, Pete Young 11+1, Dave Murphy 9+1, Adam Peck 9, Richard Clanfield 8, Ben Donohue 7+2.