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POOLE PIRATES 43 - EASTBOURNE EAGLES 49 |
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Thu 26 Mar 2009
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| Posted by
Thanks to Eastbourne Eagles Website |
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(Aggregate Eagles 98 – Pirates 84)
ELITE LEAGUE SHIELD – 2nd LEG : WEDNESDAY 25th MARCH 2009
Cameron 7 points.
The Eastbourne Eagles are the 2009 Elite League Shield winners following a fantastic 49-43 victory at the home of current League Champions, the Poole Pirates on Wednesday the Sussex side defied the harsh criticism handed out by the sports ‘experts’ in the run up to the campaign in the best possible style, kicking off with a 4-2 in heat one and leading throughout to pick up the seasons first silverware.
A sublime 12-point maximum from Lewis Bridger led the charge but his sparkling performance was supplemented down the order, Davey Watt again causing problems for his former side once more while reserve Simon Gustafsson again caught the eye, topping the scores for the second match in succession with a superbly crafted 14-points.
The night wasn’t without its problems for the Eagles however, David Norris struggling to get among the points on a track that was seldom a favourite of his in his hay day and Lukas Dryml failed to complete even one ride, crashing out of the meeting following a collision with Joe Screen in heat three.
Nothing could detract from Eagles night of glory however and with the Pirates lacking support for their heat leader trio of Joe Screen, Chris Holder and Bjarne Pedersen, it was the Eagles who always appeared the likely winners and holding an 8-point advantage from the first leg, their lead never appeared in any danger.
As the action got underway it was Watt who was to draw first blood, continuing the fine form he demonstrated some three days earlier with a flying victory over home hero and former team mate Pedersen. With Cameron Woodward also nipping at the Dane’s heels, the young Aussie experienced little difficulty in leading home Poole guest Glen Phillips for an opening 4-2 to the Sussex side, one that extended their aggregate lead to double figures, 53-43 over the sixteen races so far contested.
Better was to follow for the vi sitors however, Gustafsson and Ricky Kling gating side by side to leave Phillips and the, once again, sadly ineffective Carl Stonehewer trailing in their wake. The gate to flag effort realised a maximum 5-1 for the Eagles, the side who received a savaging by many of the pre season pundits and early days though it may be, the Eastbourne contingent were surely delighted with their progressive 9-3 lead.
Indeed the Eagles were to build further on that lead those it was to be in somewhat unfortunate circumstances. Heat three saw Bridger and Dryml forge an early lead coming out of the start but Joe Screen, riding the wide line was destined to come to grief while attempting to round the pair on the third turn. The consequent melee also saw the Czech Republican hit the shale, the knock he sustained seeing him sit out of the restart.
With Screen, duly excluded, also missing from the fray, Bridger blazed away from Daniel Davidsson to secure Eastbourne’s third successive race winner and with Kling following on in close attendance the resultant 4-2 stretched the visitors lead further to 8-points on the night, 13-5.
Holder was on hand to finally halt the slide however as he led Gustafsson for the full four laps. The Sussex sides hopes of a share of the spoils were dashed however as Norris took a tumble as he moved clear of turn two, one that enabled Stonehewer to break his duck at the ninth attempt over the two legs and one that realised a tit for tat 4-2 for the Pirates thus narrowing the difference on the night to 6-points, 15-9.
The Eagles were back in the ascendency in the next as the teams shared heat five but this time it was Woodward who took the top honours heading home Davidsson and Screen while Watt, quite surprisingly ran a last.
Indeed the pleasant surprises were set to follow in abundance for the Sussex battlers, super reserve Gustafsson comfortably outpacing Pirates number one Pedersen in the sixth while Bridger accounted for home hot shot Holder one race later.
Though heat six remained shared, Davidsson overhauling Norris in mid race to split the verdict, the Eagles eased further clear of their illustrious hosts with Kling getting the better of Phillips for the 4-2 that stretched the visitors lead to 25-17 on the night and to an impressive 16-points (74-58) over the two legs.
Screen was an all the way winner of heat eight and for a time it appeared that partner Stonehewer would conspire to bring the Pirates back into the match, however the tenacious Woodward / Gustafsson combo refused to give up the chase and in turn they reeled in the former Grand Prix rider to force a further share of the points, one that eased the Sussex side ever closer to the Elite Shield.
Norris fought a desperate battle to stay ahead of Screen in the ninth but it was to prove in vain, but with the20Eagle fending off the chasing Davidsson that limited the damage to a 4-2 in favour of the home side and the visitors remained 6-points to the good (30-24)with just six heats remaining on the card.
Eastbourne further eased their worries with back to back 4-2’s in heats ten and eleven, Bridger producing another imperious effort to deny Pedersen while Watt did likewise against Holder, Gustafsson and Woodward respectively adding the odd point to extend the visitors advantage to 10-points over the second leg and a mammoth 87-69 overall.
Poole took their final throw of the dice nominating Screen to take a tactical ride in the twelfth, but with Bridger rounding him on the run in to the line to complete a glorious maximum and Gustafsson holding off Stonehewer for a 4-4, the silverware was all but cached away for the Eagles.
The20Pirates saved some blushes, securing 4-2’s in each heats 13 and 14 to narrow the margin to 6-points once more but Gustafsson’s second place in the penultimate race was sufficient to not only win the trophy but also to guarantee the win on the night.
Watt supplied the icing on the cake, leading home both Holder and Pedersen in the last just to set the victory in stone – one that the pre season pundits hardly gave them a hope of achieving.
Scorers :
Pirates : Chris Holder 12(5), Joe Screen 11+1(5), Bjarne Pedersen 8+1(5), Daniel Davidsson 7+1(5), Carl Stonehewer 4(5), Glen Phillips 1(4), Rider Replacement for Jason Doyle – 43 (Aggregate 84)
Eagles : Simon Gustafsson 14(7), Lewis Bridger 12(4), Davey Watt 11(5), Cameron Woodward 6+1(4), Ricky Kling 4+1(5) David Norris 2(5), Lukas Dryml 0(1) – 49 (Aggregate 98)
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