POOLE Pirates continued the defence of their BSN Series crown by easing into the semi-finals with a 47-43 victory at Plymouth Gladiators.

Having comfortably won the reverse fixture 58-32 at Wimborne Road, Poole knew most of the hard work had been done, just needing the aggregate bonus point to top the group.

They achieved that mathematically with three heats to spare, going on to also clinch victory on the night at the Coliseum, progressing 105-75 on aggregate.

Richard Lawson (14) led the charge, dropping just one point all evening.

Pirates named their full septet, albeit in a reshuffled order to recent weeks. Tobias Thomsen dropped down to reserve for one meeting only before his average is updated, Sam Hagon moving up into the main body.

Meanwhile, Zach Cook and Tom Brennan swapped race jackets, the Aussie taking a role of heat leader.

Plymouth were not at full strength. They operated rider replacement to cover injured number one Nico Covatti, while National League rider Jason Garrad took the place of the unavailable former Pirate Kyle Newman.

‘Rocket Man’ showed his intention from the off, setting a new Coliseum track record in heat one.

Bournemouth Echo: Richard Lawson dropped just one point all night

The hosts were ahead after four heats, thanks to race wins from Joe Thompson and Ben Barker, either side of a Zach Cook success.

But Poole were chipping away at the tally, with a string of 3-3s as Gladiators held a four-point lead on the night after eight heats, despite Ben Cook and Sam Hagon claiming wins.

Captain Ben Cook grabbed his second win of the evening in heat nine, before Pirates began to overhaul the deficit, with the aggregate win all but secured.

Victories for Brennan and Thomsen levelled scores on the night after heat 12, before the first maximum for either side arrived, in the dramatic race which followed.

Ben Cook reared up and fell, as did Plymouth’s Ben Barker, with all four men back for the start.

But Pirates’ skipper missed the two-minute timer, and was replaced by Thomsen. The Dane combined with Lawson for a brilliant 5-1.

A shared heat 14 followed, guest Garrad’s tough night ending in a retirement, before Lawson’s win as spoils were split in the final race was enough for the win.

Poole top the southern group on eight points, ahead of Oxford Cheetahs (4) and Plymouth (3).

They move through to the semi-finals, where they join fellow group winners Workington Comets and Edinburgh Monarchs, as well as best runners-up Scunthorpe Scorpions.

Poole return to action on Wednesday, hosting Redcar Bears in the SGB Championship (7.30pm).

Plymouth 43 (75): Bowtell 7+1, D Thompson 13, Garrad 0, Barker 11+2, J Thompson 8+1, Hook 4+2.

Pirates 47 (105): Lawson 14, Hagon 4+1, Z Cook 7, Brennan 6, B Cook 8, Thomsen 8+2, Perry 0.