Edinburgh Monarchs come up just short as Poole Pirates triumph

The Edinburgh Monarchs turned in a spirited display but went down 49-41 at reigning league champions the Poole Pirates.

The visitors were still in with a shout of a losing bonus point with one race remaining, but top duo Sam Masters and Josh Pickering couldn't deliver the 5-1 required to ensure the margin of defeat stood at six points.

The Pirates are a formidable force around Wimborne road and are again tipped by many in the speedway fraternity to defend their Championship crown.

The meeting was very much nip and tuck in the early part before the hosts stretched their lead with a 5-1 in heat seven to 25-17.

Sam Masters was again Monarchs' top scorer in the defeat at Poole. Picture: Jack Cupido.

Monarchs team manager John Campbell threw the dice in heat nine bringing in Masters as a tactical substitute, but the move backfired as the Pirates duo of Steve Worrall and Ben Cook nullified anything Masters or Pickering threw at them. The Monarchs now had it all to do trailing 33-21 but a 4-2 from Masters and superb reserve guest Jason Edwards reduced the deficit to ten with four races left.

But the Monarchs couldn't eat into that lead with the next three heats all shared before Masters, who won the final race of the evening, and team-mate Pickering came up just short of what would have been a precious point.

The Capital outfit must now dust themselves down ahead of a KO Cup quarter-final first-leg clash with the Glasgow Tigers at Armadale on Friday.

Pirates: Worrall 13, Lawson 10, B Cook 8, King 8, Kemp 5, Z Cook 4, Ablitt 1.

Monarchs: Masters 15, Edwards 10, Pickering 7, Castagna 5, Thomson 4, Hook 0.