Danny Ford hails 'special evening' as Poole Pirates progress

Defending a slender six-point advantage from the first leg, Poole produced a dominant display to defeat Leicester 50-40 on the night at Beaumont Park to progress 98-82 on aggregate.

There were a host of impressive displays from Pirates on the night. Steve Worrall (12+1) again top scored, while Rory Schlein (11), Danyon Hume (9+2), Benjamin Basso (8+3) and Danny King (8+1) all made vital contributions.

"It was, without a doubt, one of the best performances I’ve seen by a Pirates team ever," promoter Ford told the Daily Echo.

"The camaraderie and the teamwork and riders putting the team above themselves in the pits and everything, it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen."

He added: "After the first leg it was quite surprising, obviously we won by six but it felt like we’d lost by six, which was quite a strange feeling.

"But that’s been such our dominance this year that even a narrow win, it feels like a little bit of a defeat.

"We’re the only team to go to Leicester this season and pick up a victory, or pick up any points in the league, which we did earlier this season.

"So we knew we were going to be up against it and it would take something special from all of our riders to put this tie to bed.

"It was quite unbelievable what we went out and did last night. It was a special, special evening."

Pirates were backed by a small section of fans at the east Midlands venue, who certainly made themselves heard on the night.

"A small contingent of Poole fans came but by God they made one hell of a noise," said Ford.

"It was fantastic. That small contingent was louder than the rest of the stadium, a thousand-odd Lions fans.

"That was great to see and that really spurred on the boys hearing that noise coming from the first bend.

"It was truly special and we got to celebrate it with them a little bit afterwards."

Pirates will face either Edinburgh Monarchs or Glasgow Tigers in the play-off final, with the pair set to do battle on Thursday and Friday.