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Last Updated: Nov 28th, 2010 - 10:22:29 |
Thursday night is speedway night, so goes the advertising shtick, however at Arlington stadium, Thursday night continued to be party night as the mighty Poole Pirates, at present the runaway Elite League leaders, became the latest team to fall victim to the resurgent Eastbourne ‘Lifestyle’ Eagles, the Sussex side winning out by a 49-41 margin in an Arlington thriller to claim all three league points.
A full 32-points separated the two teams in the section on the morning of the fixture, the Dorset outfit seemingly winning for fun and apparently running away with things while Eastbourne, second from bottom in the table, were more readily regarded as glancing anxiously over their shoulders at the chasing Ipswich Witches. However, in the final reckoning, any perceived gulf in class was made light of in what proved to be another night of triumph for the Sussex men and they delighted in reducing that vast margin by three-points, in many ways a token effort but to the Arlington faithful, quite rightly it was an important, and wholly significant one against their long time south coast rivals
Once again it proved to be a solid all round display by the Eagles with every rider making a valid contribution at some point during the encounter, in truth however it was the scoring prowess of homecoming duo, skipper Cameron Woodward, back after several weeks out with injury, and Slovenian Matej Zagar, who missed each of the clubs two epic home victories against the Coventry Bees and the Peterborough Panthers in turn. The pair opened the show with a 5-1 over newly crowned British Grand Prix Champion Chris Holder to set out a marker and then they did it once more in the final race of the night, heat fifteen with the Pirates needing a similar advantage to force a draw, and the maximum race proving the only result that would do to secure all three-points from the clash for the Sussex side, one that sent the home supporters into raptures.
Certainly, elsewhere the Pirates made their presence felt, former Eagles skipper Davey Watt particularly catching the eye with three dominant race wins to open his account, and at times proved the daunting opposition expected of them, however inconsistency appeared to be a rather unwanted watch-word for them and as good as their riders were in some races, six out of the seven picking up at least one heat victory (or a paid win), equally they fell well short, Holder being a prime example, of what might have been expected of them in others.
No doubt the Pirates management would point to the events of heat twelve as a pivotal point of the contest with the Poole duo of Bjarne Pedersen and Darcy Ward on a 5-1 that looked set to level proceedings at 36-points apiece ahead of the final run in, however the latter raced wide the third time around, clipping the safety fence and unhooking the kick board at the base, dragging it onto the track and necessitating a stoppage. Judging by the subsequent protests from the Pirates side of the pits it appeared they didn’t seemed happy at Ward’s – undeniably the architect of the race being halted – exclusion, however referee Christina Turnbull, quite rightly, stuck to her guns and the Dorset rider was ruled out of the awarded result, thus leaving the Eagles holding a 4-point advantage, 38-34 which they admirably defended over the final three heats.
As the match commenced it certainly appeared that the Eagles would continue their fine form of the previous two home meetings and from the word go it proved to be a happy return to the fold for both Woodward as well as Zagar.
As the tapes rose on heat one it was the Eagles Captain who emerged clear of the pack, blazing around the outside of the first two bends and with the Slovenian picking his way through from the back to leave Holder trailing in last place for that much celebrated opening 5-1.
Simon Gustafsson and Lukas Dryml were next in line to keep the Arlington party spirit going as they finished one either side of Pirate prodigy Darcy Ward for a 4-2 that compounded their first race success, turning a 4-point lead into an immediate 6-point advantage, one that stood at 9-3 in favour of the Sussex side.
The party feel was already gathering momentum among the home fans, but Poole were set to sober up the mood as 4-2’s to the visitors each in heats three and five, one either side of a fourth race 5-1, Watt and Jason Doyle combining for the maximum, immediately overturned the Eastbourne lead, securing a 16-14 advantage for the Pirates.
Back to back 5-1’s in heats seven and eight seized back control for the home side however, Joonas Kylmakorpi and Gustafsson firstly getting the better of Pedersen and Artur Mroczka before Dryml and Ricky Kling followed suit at the expense of Leon Madsen and Doyle, the Eagles re-establishing a 6-point cushion, 27-21, one that ultimately, they were never destined to relinquish.
The Pirates tried hard however, Watt then Zagar trading wins in shared races in heats nine and ten before the Pirates edged closer with a 4-2, Kylmakorpi coming from the back in fine style to split Holder, his one win of the night, and Madsen, thus preventing a Poole 5-1 in the eleventh. Then the visitors suffered further misfortune, though misfortune of their own, or at least Ward’s making as the Aussie was ruled out of heat twelve.
Nerves undoubtedly remained frayed on both sides, however Zagar, who has drawn critics from within the Sussex camp in recent weeks, continued a magnificent return to arms, taking a stylish win ahead of Watt, his first defeat of the evening, and Holder in thirteen.
This saw the Eagles still clutching that 4-point advantage, one now standing at 41-37 and although Mroczka proved first man home in the penultimate race, both Gustafsson and Woodward found a way past Doyle to set up that last heat decider, Zagar and Woodward, roaring home once more ahead of both Holder and Watt in that epic final race to set Arlington stadium literally rocking in celebration.
Scorers :
Eagles : Matej Zagar 12+2(5), Cameron Woodward 12+2(6), Simon Gustafsson 10(6), Lukas Dryml 6(4), Joonas Kylmakorpi 5+1(4), Ricky Kling 4+2(5), Rider Replacement for Tomasz Jedrzejak. – 49
Pirates : Davey Watt, 11(5), Bjarne Pedersen 8+1(4), Artur Mroczka, 6+1(4), Chris Holder 6+1(5), Leon Madsen 5(4), Jason Doyle 3+1(4), Darcy Ward 2(4). – 41
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