POOLE Pirates gave themselves a mountain to climb in their SGB Championship grand final second leg after slipping to a double-digit defeat away at Glasgow Tigers.

Tigers will take a 14-point lead to Wimborne Road after running out 52-38 winners at Ashfield Stadium, Pirates unable to take a race win until the ninth heat of the evening.

Former Pirate Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris did the majority of the damage with a paid maximum, whilst Russian speedster Vadim Tarasenko impressed to start before fading away.

Tom Brennan and Harris led from the gates to ensure Glasgow got off to a perfect start, Richard Lawson powerless to prevent a maximum for the hosts.

Reserve Joe Thompson looked to send a move up the inside to supplement Kyle Newman’s lead, but before he was adjudged to have forced Ace Pijper off heading into the first bend of lap two in heat two.

Thompson was excluded from the rerun, the restart allowing Lee Complin to storm ahead of Newman and take a second race win for the Tigers.

Pirates’ bad luck continued when Ben Cook went early into the tapes at the start of race three, with Poole choosing to send the Aussie back out with a 15-metre penalty.

But before he could line up and take his punishment, he overran the one-minute warning, meaning he was excluded from the race.

For the second race in a row, the sole Pirate had little chance, with Zach Cook trailing throughout behind Vadim Tarasenko and Benjamin Basso.

Now trailing by 14-4, Pirates could only hold their hosts to a draw in heat four, Tarasenko’s race win matched by Steve Worrall and Thompson in second and third respectively.

Basso returned to storm through and take the win in race five, with Lawson’s second-placed finish followed by Complin in third.

Further misfortune ahead of heat six saw Newman’s bike pack-up on the start line, the Pirate reserve disqualified. Thompson was allowed to take his place, but there was little point as Harris and Brennan secured a third maximum of the evening.

The Cook brothers kept Tarasenko honest in the seventh race, the Russian eventually besting Ben Cook in a 3-3 draw.

Zach Cook took second in the following heat, sandwiched between Brennan and Complin.

Pirates finally had something to cheer about in heat nine, Worrall taking Poole’s first race win, Newman supplementing with a solitary point.

Heat 10 saw the Cook siblings take second and third again to temper a Glasgow race win, Harris roaring back from behind to take the win.

Richard Lawson stormed into the distance in race 11 to reduce the deficit again, Thompson valiantly fending off Tarasenko to pick up a point and the heat advantage.

Former Pirate Basso kept Ben Cook and Newman at bay in heat 12, maintaining Tiger’s 14-point lead with three races remaining.

Worrall and Lawson started strongly in race 13, giving Pirates hope of an unlikely comeback.

However, that optimism quickly faded to despair, as Harris slipped past Lawson and Worrall to ensure the spoils were shared.

Harris again proved his mastery of the Ashfield track in the final heat, coming around the outside of Lawson and Worrall to take a fourth race win for a paid maximum.

Pirates now must win by 15 on Wednesday night to claim a third successive Championship title.

Glasgow - 52: C Harris 14+1, T Brennan 9+2, B Basso 10+1, V Tarasenko 9, L Complin 9, A Pijper 1.

Pirates – 38: R Lawson 9+1, B Cook 7, Z Cook 8+2, S Worrall 9+1, K Newman 4+1, J Thompson 2+1.