Workington Comets picked up the draw they didn’t want in the semi-final of the BSN Series.
They have been paired with Poole Pirates, bringing back painful memories of last month’s southern trip when they lost 61-29 on the Dorset track.
The draw was made last night with the other semi-final confirmed to be Edinburgh taking on Scunthorpe over two legs.
An aggregate win over both legs will see the Comets progress to the final and the dates for both legs against Poole will be confirmed as soon as possible.
There was also some encouraging news from last night’s Championship fixture when Poole struggled to beat Redcar on the Pirates’ home track.
Although they moved above the Comets to the top of the Cab Direct Championship the Pirates were made to sweat by Redcar before recording a 47-43 victory.
The Pirates found themselves six points down after a strong start for the Bears at Wimborne Road, and after turning things around to hold a six-point lead themselves, a broken chain for West Cumbrian Richard Lawson when leading Heat 13 helped set up a last-heat decider.
In that race, Tom Brennan and Lawson secured a 4-2 to see the home side to victory, Brennan completing a 13-point haul with Lawson scoring 10.
Lawson and another former Comets rider Simon Lambert have been called-up by King’s Lynn for the first leg of their Premiership KO Cup semi-final against Sheffield tonight.
They come in for the Stars at the Adrian Flux Arena with Tobiasz Musielak and Michael Palm Toft on the sidelines.
Stars operations manager Dale Allitt said: “We’d like to thank Richard and Simon for standing in, and we know how well they can both go here.
“As we said during the winter, Simon was unfortunate not to get a place with us this season given what he contributed last year, and I’m sure the supporters will welcome him back.”
Meanwhile another former Comet, Sheffield skipper Kyle Howarth has confirmed the line-ups for his Testimonial which takes place at Owlerton next Wednesday (June 12).
A Tigers side will take on a Rest of the World Select over a traditional 15 heat format.
Regular Sheffield riders Josh Pickering, Jason Edwards and Dan Gilkes will line-up alongside Howarth.
Chris Harris and Jye Etheridge, who both guested for the Tigers in their Grand Final triumph over Ipswich last October, will race for the hosts alongside Rory Schlein who appeared for the club in the third tier earlier in his career.
The Rest of the World side features former German National Champion Norick Blodorn as well as Leicester’s Ryan Douglas and Sam Masters.
