Poole Pirates beat Glasgow Tigers to win SGB Championship

Pirates, who also won the Knockout Cup last week, had to overturn a 10-point disadvantage from Tuesday’s first leg.

But they produced another strong display at Wimborne Road, where they remained unbeaten for the whole season, triumphing 56-34 on the night, with Rory Schlein (11+1) and Danny King (11+1) leading the charge.

It rounded off a memorable campaign for the Dorset club, which threw up plenty of challenges along the way, but ended with two more pieces of silverware to add to their glittering trophy cabinet.

Pirates once again called upon the services of Zach Cook to guest, with Stefan Nielsen ruled out through injury.

Glasgow also named the same septet as Tuesday’s first leg.

Looking for a strong start to make a dent in the double-figure disadvantage, Pirates got off to the ideal start. Steve Worrall and Danyon Hume stormed out the gates, seeing out a comfortable heat one maximum.

Pirates reduced the arrears further in heat two, Zach Cook taking the flag with Benjamin Basso battling back to get ahead of Connor Bailey to finish in third.

Tigers steadied the ship with race wins in the next two, courtesy of Tom Brennan and Ricky Wells, but each heat was shared meaning Pirates trailed 59-55 at the first track grading pause.

Schlein then picked up his first race win of the night and with Ben Cook holding off Sam Jensen, Pirates recorded a 4-2 to cut the overall deficit to just two points.

Two shared heats followed. Worrall continued his impressive start to the evening, storming out to lead from gate two, with former Pirate Wells ensuring a 3-3 by denying a strong Hume challenge.

King then showed his class around Wimborne Road, cruising to a tapes-to-flag victory in heat seven, ahead of Broc Nicol and Brennan.

And the tie was levelled on aggregate in heat eight. Basso took to the front early and that is where he remained. Hume took third after Jensen fell, Pirates going up 29-19 on the night, all square at 69 apiece on aggregate.

Tigers boss Cami Brown made a reserve change in heat nine and it paid off. Bailey came in for Marcin Nowak and got off the mark for the night, taking victory despite Ben Cook’s relentless chase to try and get ahead.

But Pirates did get the advantage they were after in heat 10, to go ahead on aggregate as Poole’s own tactical switch paid off. Basso came in for Hume and, alongside Worrall, eased to the hosts’ second maximum of the night to go up 37-23, and 77-73 overall.

Craig Cook took a race win in a shared heat 11, before Pirates extended their advantage to six points on aggregate, Schlein claiming his second victory of the night, with Basso in third.

Celebrations in the Pirates pits were premature after heat 13, with Poole thinking they had sealed a title-winning maximum. King came from third to win the race, but Craig Cook stole second spot on the line from Worrall, confirmed after referee review.

However, that decision simply delayed the inevitable, with there to be no argument over the result of heat 14. Cook brothers Zach and Ben stormed to a maximum to secure the Championship title with a heat to spare, sparking wild celebrations in both the stands and on track.

There was to be no race victory on Schlein’s final race in speedway in the UK as he finished second to Tigers’ top scorer Craig Cook (11) in a shared final heat.

But the Aussie veteran was left celebrating with the rest of Pirates, as they rounded off a memorable campaign with their second trophy in as many weeks.

Pirates 56 (96): Steve Worrall 9+1 (3, 3, 2+1, 1), Danyon Hume 3+1 (2+1, 0, 1), Rory Schlein 11+1 (2, 3, 1+1, 3, 2), Ben Cook 6+2 (1+1, 1, 2, 2+1), Danny King 11+1 (2, 3, 2, 3, 1+1), Zach Cook 7+1 (3, 0, 1+1, 3), Benjamin Basso 9+1 (1, 1+1, 3, 3, 1).

Glasgow 34 (84): Craig Cook 11 (1, 2, 3, 2, 3), Sam Jensen 0 (0, 0, 0), Broc Nicol 4 (0, 2, 0, 2, 0), Tom Brennan 6+1 (3, 1+1, 1, 1), Ricky Wells 4+1 (3, 1+1, 0, 0), Marcin Nowak 6 (2, 2, 2, 0, 0), Connor Bailey 3 (0, 0, 3, 0).