ZACH Cook says “everything is going to plan” for him as he played a key role in Poole Pirates booking their spot in the SGB Championship final.

The Aussie has been part of the side which has won the second tier league title in each of the past two seasons.

And he will look to make it a hat-trick next month, when Pirates face either Oxford Cheetahs or Glasgow Tigers over two legs.

Poole booked their spot in the grand final with a hard-fought win at Scunthorpe Scorpions on Friday night, before getting the job done at home against Edinburgh Monarchs on Wednesday.

Cook totalled an impressive 19+4 from nine rides across those two meetings, including three race wins, beating the likes of Ryan Douglas, Jake Allen and Lasse Fredriksen.

“It’s pretty cool,” said the 24-year-old, when asked about reaching a third league final with Poole.

“We knew we deserved to be there, but we had to get there first.

“It all starts again now. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done throughout the year, it’s all on that last one.”

Discussing his score of paid 13 against the Monarchs, which saw him voted rider of the night, Cook added: “It was nice to get a good one under my belt before the final.

“The track was nice and everything is going to plan.”

Pirates were up against it in their play-off group, after being held to a home draw by Scunthorpe.

That required victory at Eddie Wright Raceway, a task made harder when Anders Rowe suffered an injury in heat one and was withdrawn from the meeting.

But Poole went on to record a memorable 50-40 victory.

“That was an awesome meeting, that,” Cook reflected.

“There was a lot riding on that and everyone knew it.

“We felt we were pushing uphill after heat one when we lost Anders, but we knew what we had to do.

“I’ve done a fair few meetings there this year, so it was good to go there in a meeting that had so much behind it.

“I’ve had a bit of experience there this year, but the track was nice and all the boys were on form, which we needed.

“If a few of us weren’t firing then it would have been game over. But it was good to get the win.”

Pirates complete their play-off group fixtures away at Edinburgh on Friday (7.30pm).

Poole also have a two-legged Knockout Cup final to come next month, against either Redcar Bears or Scunthorpe.