COVENTRY 40 POOLE 49
COVENTRY: POOLE:
G.Hancock 1 3 2'1'2'X 9(3) M.Loram 2'3 3 1 2 11(1)
St.Robson 0 1 2 1 4 M.Zetterstrom Rider Replacement
D.Barker R 2 R 2 G.Havelock 2'1 3 3 1' 10(2)
A.Jonsson 1 1'T 2 4(1) L.Richardson 3 0 3 0 3 9
B.Hamill E 3 2 2 3 3 13 J.Nilsen 3 2 3 M 8
Sc.Robson 1 1 0 2 O.Allen 0 1 0 0 0 1
S.Tacey 3 2 F 1'0 6(1) M.Ferjan 3 2 0 E 2'2'1 10(2)
HEAT DETAILS:
Ht 1:Ferjan, Loram, Hancock, St.Robson, 63.0 1-5 1-5
Ht 2:Tacey, Ferjan, Sc.Robson, Allen(f,rem), 63.1 4-2 5-7
Ht 3:Richardson, Havelock, Jonsson, Barker(ret), 61.8 1-5 6-12
Ht 4:Nilsen, Tacey, Allen, Hamill(ef), 62.2 2-4 8-16
Ht 5:Loram, Barker, Jonsson, Ferjan, 62.3 3-3 11-19
Ht 6:Hancock, Nilsen, St.Robson, Allen, 62.6 4-2 15-21
Ht 7:Hamill, Hancock, Havelock, Richardson, 63.4 5-1 20-22
Ht 8:Richardson, St.Robson, Tacey(f), Ferjan(ef), 62.5 2-3 22-25
Ht 9:Nilsen, Ferjan, Sc.Robson, Barker(ret), Jonsson(t), 63.1 1-5 23-30
Ht10:Havelock, Hamill, Hancock, Richardson, 62.6 3-3 26-33
Ht11:Loram, Hamill, Tacey, Allen, 62.8 3-3 29-36
Ht12:Havelock, Ferjan, St.Robson, Tacey, 63.2 1-5 30-41
Ht13:Hamill, Hancock, Loram, Allen, Nilsen(min), 63.6 5-1 35-42
Ht14:Richardson, Jonsson, Ferjan, Sc.Robson, 63.7 2-4 37-46
Ht15:Hamill, Loram, Havelock, Hancock(f,exc), 94.6 3-3 40-49
COVENTRY NEVER WIN THE Knock-Out Cup.
Down the years there is a huge collection of near-misses - final and semi-final appearances dogged by mechanical problems, loss of form and injuries. This clash with League runners-up Poole had all of that plus a miserable guest performance, and Bees now need a miracle to reach the Cup Final. Realistically, the target will be to get the whole team fit for the Craven Shield Final which will take place in the last week of the season.
That may prove to be an impossibility as Coventry fans anxiously await news of Greg Hancock, who suffered a shoulder injury in a horrible crash in the last race when he shed a chain. Hancock and Billy Hamill had raced into a convincing lead on the first lap, but the Bees skipper stopped dead mid-way round the third and fourth bends and was flung from his bike in frightening fashion. He was down on the track for some time before the ambulance came on and slowly took him away. Nobody ever likes to see a rider taken to hospital, but it somehow seems even worse when it's your No.1 - get well soon, Greg.
It was always going to be a difficult match, with Pirates re-inforcing by using Jimmy Nilsen as a guest for Scott Nicholls whilst Bees lost first choice guest Shane Parker with injury. Colin Pratt again turned to Eastbourne and this time Dean Barker, who unbelievably turned out to be an even bigger disaster than David Norris had on Wednesday.
On the slickest track imaginable, which turned the match into a gating competition, Poole declared their intent in Heat 1 when Mark Loram and trump card reserve Matej Ferjan - what an improved rider he is since joining Poole - raced away from Hancock and Stuart Robson for a 5-1. That didn't bode well for Bees, who would have been looking for at least a ten point lead from the match, preferably more judging by recent form at Poole.
The best action of the night came in Heat 2 with Shaun Tacey pulling off the only genuine overtaking manoevre, working his way up from a poor start to challenge Ferjan and move inside him going into the third lap. Scott Robson was unchallenged in third place when Oliver Allen fell on the third bend and Bees had halved the deficit.
Lee Richardson stormed from the gate in Heat 3, and Gary Havelock swiftly joined him at the front as Andreas Jonsson locked up on the pits bend and Barker decided to ride as far away as possible from the racing line. That was another Poole 5-1, and their lead was further extended as Coventry's problems continued in Heat 4. Hamill travelled about 10 yards before completely losing power, which allowed Allen a point behind Nilsen and a challenging Tacey.
No Bees changes were forthcoming for Heat 5 and although Loram won with ease, Barker and Jonsson at least managed to keep Ferjan behind them to split the race. Hancock slipped round Nilsen at the start of Heat 6 with Stuart Robson in third place for a 4-2, and then Bees moved right back into the tie by bringing Hancock into Heat 7 as a tactical substitute. He moved a quick-gating Richardson over on turn 2 allowing Hamill through on the inside, and the 5-1 meant that Poole were just two points up now.
Heat 8 produced complete mayhem behind convincing winner Richardson. Stuart Robson found himself at the back until Ferjan's bike started emitting great clouds of smoke - not surprisingly, it stopped, and it looked like Coventry had had the better of the luck in this race, especially when Robson himself coasted to walking pace on the last bend. Incredibly, he was still to move up into second place because Tacey's chain snapped literally 20 yards from the line, tossing him off his bike. Badly winded, he needed attention for a wrist injury and was unable to get home for a point, which meant Pirates had scored a 3-2.
Coventry's problems continued in Heat 9 when Jonsson touched the tapes. Colin Pratt elected to bring in Scott Robson rather than send Jonsson back on 15 yards, and the Coventry fans' fears were confirmed when Nilsen and Ferjan gated to a 5-1, after a half-hearted effort by Barker to move Ferjan over at the start. Thereafter he moved steadily backwards, even being overtaken by Robson before retiring.
With Bees having slipped seven points behind, the Hancock/Hamill partnerhsip was used in Heat 10, again against Havelock and Richardson, but this time the move wasn't successful because Havelock made a flying start from gate 3 and emerged ahead of Coventry's American pair. And with the track the way it was, there was very little the Exide boys could do - Havelock had again produced a very important win for Poole.
After the interval, Loram reeled off his third unbeaten ride as he held off a brief challenge from Hamill, with a clearly struggling Tacey doing enough to beat Allen. That made Heat 12's change difficult to fathom, with Barker replaced by Stuart Robson - who had only beaten Allen - and Tacey left in the race. The resulting 5-1 from Havelock and Ferjan was one of the least unpredictable outcomes of the evening.
Bees now needed three 5-1s for a first leg win, and that would have been the miracle of all miracles. However, the first maximum did occur thanks to some perfect team-riding between Hamill and Hancock, who combined to end Loram's maximum hopes, this coming after Nilsen had been excluded for exceeding the time allowance. Poole manager Neil Middleditch produced a bizarre interpretation of the rules when he entertained the idea of putting Nilsen back in off 15 yards because Nilsen's bike problem had occurred at the start line, but the rule clearly states that this option is only open for starting gate offences - ie. Tape touching or, presumably, delaying the start.
Any Coventry hopes of a 5-1 in Heat 14 were ended from the start with Richardson and Ferjan charging away, although Jonsson finally showed some form by quickly moving into second place and then challenging Richardson. On lap 3 he got inside him but had to throttle back to avoid hitting him, and the talented Richardson won a good race to put the Pirates 46-37 up.
That just left the disastrous Heat 15, where Loram did well to avoid an accident on the first bend when he picked up drive going into the first corner. That allowed Hamill and Hancock into a convincing lead, but the race only went half a lap further before Hancock's crash. After a lengthy delay Hamill won the first-bend battle with Loram and raced to an unchallenged six lap win.
It's difficult to know how to sum up such a disastrous evening - it was just a complete nightmare from start to finish, with errors virtually everywhere. Poole will now almost certainly go into the Cup Final, and there's definitely part of me which thinks that they deserve to win something this season. And, given that Coventry are going to win the Craven Shield, that's their best chance for honours!