POOLE Pirates trail by four points heading into the second leg of their Knockout Cup final after a commendable 47-43 defeat away at Scunthorpe Scorpions.

On an afternoon with no maximums for either side, Scorpions managed to hold onto a slender lead to take to Wimborne Road on Wednesday night.

Zach Cook led the way for Pirates with 14 points from six races, the highest points tally of any rider on the afternoon.

Ryan Douglas led from the gates to take home the first race win, Richard Lawson a comfortable second.

Former Scorpion Joe Thompson looked to hold on for a point, but Connor Mountain completed a last-gasp overtake to snatch third on the line.

After missing out on the points in his first race, Thompson instantly returned for race two to make his mark.

Storming from gate four, Thompson led throughout, with former Pirates Drew Kemp and Nathan Ablitt tempering the Pirates heat win with second and third place finishes.

Scunthorpe doubled their lead with another 4-2 in race three, a topsy-turvy race full of overtakes.

After Simon Lambert raced ahead of the pack it seemed like the Cook brothers would at least match the three points for the Scorpions.

But Jake Allen managed to overhaul Ben Cook at the back, giving the hosts another race advantage.

Heat four quickly separated into two battles, the frontrunners of Michael Palm Toft and Worrall gunning for first whilst Kemp and Thompson squabbled at the back for third.

Allen’s flying start to race five was adjudged to have been down to a jump at tapes up, the Scorpion warned ahead of the rerun.

The restart saw Lawson race into the distance with Lambert trailing in his wake, whilst Newman find early joy sneaking through the inside.

He was eventually overtaken by Lambert, but Newman held on from the challenge of Allen to chip two points off Scorpions’ embryonic lead.

It looked like Scunthorpe’s winning margin would evaporate in heat six, Pirates storming towards a one-two with Worrall and Newman.

But Scorpions number one Douglas split the pair, driving up the middle of the two to take first.

Pirates managed to make a further dent in Scorpions’ lead, reducing it to two when Zach Cook eased to a race win in heat seven.

Ben Cook quickly put behind him a sluggish start to overtake former teammate Ablitt, handing Poole just their second race advantage of the afternoon.

Zach Cook was straight back into the fray for the eighth race, picking up another comfortable three points.

Thompson was unable to join him in the points, trailing behind Mountain and Kemp who took second and third respectively.

Another draw followed in race nine. Newman made another quick start from gate four, but that quickly faded as Allen cruised into the lead.

Worrall was a comfortable second place, with Newman managing to keep Lambert at bay at the back.

Ben Cook became the first rider to dethrone Douglas in race 10, keeping the Scorpions favourite at bay throughout. His brother Zach came through to take third, allowing Pirates to level the scores on the day.

It looked like there would be another draw in heat 11, Kemp racing into first as Lawson and Newman looked comfortable in second and third.

But Palmer Toft managed to snatch third and put the hosts back ahead.

Kemp continued to show his form, racing into the lead from gate four from the start of race 12.

Ben Cook kept him honest throughout, but the former Pirate made it back-to-back race wins.

Heat 13 featured plenty of passes, with Lawson eventually taking the race win ahead of Scorpions Douglas and Palm Toft, preventing a Poole advantage.

Zach Cook executed a lovely move on Allen to take his third race win of the afternoon, Thompson holding onto third in the penultimate heat.

The strong showing of Zach Cook earned him a spot in heat 15, the Aussie delivering in an action-packed finale that saw passes galore.

Ultimately Douglas held on for first, followed by Zack Cook, whilst Lawson was edged out by Palm Toft after an intense battle.

Scunthorpe - 47: - R Douglas 13, C Mountain 3, S Lambert 6, J Allen 6, M Palm Toft 8+1, N Ablitt 1+1, D Kemp 10+1.

Pirates- 43: R Lawson 10, B Cook 6, Z Cook 14, S Worrall 6, K Newman 3+2, J Thompson 4.