THE KNOCKOUT Cup final first leg between Poole Pirates and Scunthorpe Scorpions has been moved back to Sunday in a pre-emptive decision.

Pirates had been set to begin the defence of their Knockout Cup crown at Scorpion’s Eddie Wright raceway this evening, but on Thursday night the decision was made to push the meeting back to Sunday due to forecasts of heavy rain.

Rather than beginning the final on Friday at 7.30pm, Scunthorpe will welcome Poole to Lincolnshire on Sunday, with tapes up at 3pm.

The second leg is still scheduled to be held at Pirates’ Wimborne Road home on Wednesday, October 18 at 7.30pm.

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey explained on the club’s website: “The forecast is very heavy rain– it’s one of the worst forecasts I’ve seen.

“There’s a possibility that it may have cleared by the evening, but the damage will be done by then – there will be no time to prepare a raceable or rideable track.

“We want the Cup Final to be a good experience for everyone. The forecast is good for both Saturday and Sunday.

“We’d spoken to the Poole promotion about the possibility, because the weather for Friday has looked awful all week, and they agreed to a switch to Sunday if we needed it, and we thank them for their co-operation.

“We also wanted to give supporters plenty of notice of the new date. We want it to be a fantastic cup final.”

Pirates have lifted the Knockout Cup in both seasons since dropping down to speedway’s second tier.

It has been another golden period for speedway’s most successful club, with defeat in the Championship grand final to Glasgow earlier this week representing the first time they have not won every trophy available in the second tier since entering the league in 2020.