Workington Comets were swept away by the powerhouse that is Poole Pirates and their Championship play-off final hopes were quickly extinguished.
Trailing by 14 points from the first leg the Comets had faced a hugely difficult task in pulling back the deficit and needed early heat advantages to give them a chance.
But a 4-2 and a 3-2 in the first four races were the only times that the Comets outscored their visitors and it was clear from a long way out that the Pirates were going through to the final.
What they needed was a series of heat scores like the one that opened proceedings when guests Jason Edwards and Charles Wright fashioned a 4-2, but it didn’t continue.
A shared reserves race, followed by a 4-2 for the Pirates saw them go into the fourth heat all square and after both Tom Brennan and Paul Starke were excluded, Troy Batchelor beat Vinnie Foord for a Comets 3-2.
But a 12-11 lead after four heats was as good as it got for Workington as four races later it was 25-22 to the Pirates and from that point they turned the screw to race clear for an emphatic win on the day and overall.
The Comets again had to use three guests and Dan Thompson (8), Wright (7) and Edwards (6) didn’t score as many as Workington needed from them on the day.
Workington riders only managed to win four races – Wright, Edwards, Batchelor and Starke – while Poole’s heat leaders won nine between them.
West Cumbrian and ex-Comet Richard Lawson (12 + 1) and Ben Cook (12) led the way with Tom Brennan chipping in with eight after his first-ride exclusion.
It was the sort of power that Workington just couldn’t match and Poole, chasing another sizeable haul of silverware showed why they are the team to beat at Championship level.
However, considering that Comets were written off before a wheel was turned, and were regarded as favourites for the wooden spoon it’s been an achievement to reach two semi-finals and have the misfortune to come up against the strongest team in the competition.
They also finished with only three riders originally selected for the first team chosen at the start of the season as injuries robbed them of the services of skipper Craig Cook, the exciting Tate Zischke and the solid Claus Vissing.
Workington Comets 36 (74)
Charles Wright 7; Jason Edwards 6, Antti Vuolas 3 + 2; Dan Thompson 8; Troy Batchelor 7; Paul Starke 5 + 2; Sam McGurk 0.
Poole Pirates 53 (105)
Richard Lawson 12 + 1; Sam Hagon 1; Ben Cook 12; Zach Cook 9 + 2; Tom Brennan 8; Tobias Thomsen 5 + 1; Vinnie Foord 6 + 1.
