Lakeside Hammers 42, Poole Pirates 48
IT all went Poole-shaped at the Purfleet Raceway tonight as the south coast side raced to an impressive victory in the first leg of the Elite League grand final.

The play-off decider proved a meeting too far for Hammers who felt the pressure of losing key riders in the closing weeks of the season.

Their replacements tried hard but were found wanting when up against the strength and experience in depth of Poole.

Pirates made a blistering start at Purfleet raceway, sharing the honours in the first heat and opening up an early lead with successive 5-1s in heats two and three.

Poole’s Chris Holder led home Andreas Jonsson and Leigh Lanham in the opening heat and then Daniel Davidsson shot out of the gate in the second heat as Pirates took the early initiative.

Adam Skornicki took Poole into a 13-5 lead with his side's third heat win.

Poole were blazing away, making the most of a slick track and a 'grippy' starting gate that suited them as Lakeside were unable to prepare it as they might have wanted because of Sunday's heavy rain.

There was some controversy at the start of heat four when Pirates’ Daniel Davidsson jumped the tape but failed to gain advantage as the Hammers’ duo were in the lead when the referee brought them back for a restart.

Hammers’ team boss Jon Cook appeared livid, saying the referee was making a ‘judgement’ call rather than acting quickly on what happened before him.

“We’ve been fighting fires all week, it was always likely we’d take a bit of a hit in the early races but it’s how the team fights back now.”

When the heat got underway again Tomasz Jedrzejak and Krzysztof Jablonski raced into the lead but Davy Watt, who rode for Hammers as a guest several times this season, came through too take both riders and earn his side a 3-3 to make the score 8-16.

Hammers got their first heat winner of the night when Joonas Davidsson shot away in heat five, rounding Chris Holder on the first corner to grab the lead which he held and Leigh Lanham made it a 4-2 as he came from the back to overtake Magnus Zetterstrom.

Lakeside’s top pairing of Andreas Jonsson and Leigh Lanham had high hopes in heat six and blazed away. Davy Watt split Jonsson and Lanham in a thrilling second lap and though Lanham got back into second again, by the chequered flag Watt had steamed underneath him on a bend to earn second place.

However the 4-2 dragged Lakeside a little closer to their visitors.

“It’s a little better, but still not good,” said Jonsson. “It’s more difficult than normal and it will take time to get used to the track. Hopefully we can still get as many points as possible.”

“I just wish I could make a start,” said Watt. “Working hard for points isn’t the way I planned it.”

The strength in depth of Poole proved decisive in a thrilling next heat as Adam Skornicki and Bjarne Pedersen brought home a 5-1 in a superb race.

That prompted Hammers team boss Cook to nominate Jonsson for a tactical ride in heat eight, starting 15m behind everyone else to try and claim double points.

However, the strategy depended upon Leigh Lanham taking the lead to conrol the heat but he missed the break and Magnus Zetterstrom and Daniel Davidsson raced home to record a 5-1 and establish a 12 point lead.

It was a disaster for Hammers' hopes of getting back into the meeting.

Poole boss Neil Middleditch was elated, saying: "We couldn't dreamed to have done as well as this at this stage but we aren't over confident."

The reason for that slight note of caution was evident in the next heat when Jonsson returned straight into the action and with Joonas Davidsson they recorded a 5-1 to cut the deficit.

Davy Watt did his best to split his some time teammates but Davidsson produced a superb ride to back up Swedish Grand Prix ace Jonsson and take second place.

Heat 10 was the battle of the big guns with Poole’s unbeaten Adam Skornicki and Bjarne Pedersen up against Lanham and Jonsson and once more Lanham missed the gate, Pedersen racing away into the lead.

The Hammers pair battled superbly to get a 3-3 with Skornicki sliding off in the closing moments as Jonsson shut the door on him.

Tomasz Jedrzejak rode superbly to take the heat win next time out but Krzysztof Jablonski trailed in like the newcomer he is and Chris Holder and Magnus Zetterstrom ensured Hammers made no headway into the lead.

The 3-3s continued with Bjarne Pedersen taking the next heat with a composed ride, despite the best efforts of Joonas Davidsson, who was performing superbly on his return from a lengthy injury.

Andreas Jonsson produced a top class performance in heat 13, gating into the lead and then controlling the race, showing composure to allow Tomasz Jedrzejak to follow him home for a 5-1 at gave them a slender of hope winning on the night.

Those hopes were only to last a matter of a few minutes as Adam Skornicki ground out another heat win and with Hammers' Joonas Davidsson followed home by his brother, and Ricky Kling nowhere, it was all over as Poole took a 4-2 and an unbeatable lead.

Andreas Jonsson came out for his seventh ride in the final heat of the night, making a blistering start.

He led from gate to tape but Joonas Davidsson was unable to overhaul either Bjarne Pedersen or Adam Skornicki so Pirates got a 3-3 and Pirates take a six point lead into next Monday’s second leg.

Cook said: "We have known for some time that we were struggling coming into this final. We lost three heat leaders and we have raced aganst some weaker teams coming into this last meeting which has disguised that weakness a bit.

"But we have had a great season. This club is here to stay and there will be plenty more finals for us and we will give a good account of ourselves next week and you never know."

LAKESIDE: A. Jonsson 15+1, L. Lanham 6+1, R/R for A. Shields, J. Davidsson 10+1, T. Jedrzejak 8+1, R. Kling 2+1, K. Jablonski 1+1.

POOLE: C. Holder 7, M. Zetterstrom 4+1, B. Pedersen 12+2, A. Skornicki 10+1, D. Watt 7, F. Eriksson 2+1, D. Davidsson 6+1.