Gladiators bow out of play-offs and turn focus to 2023
PLYMOUTH GLADIATORS .......... 40 POOLE PIRATES ............................ 50
IT was always going to take something special and rank among sport’s greatest comebacks. But in the end, Poole Pirates were just too good for the Plymouth Gladiators in the Championship play-offs, writes Stuart James.
With a 30-point deficit from the first leg, the Gladiators needed a miracle to overturn the tie, upset the form book and be the ones to progress to the next round. Their cause was not helped by having all of their riders either injured or suspended nd a further hammer blow hit them before the tapes had even hone up when Hans Andersen was forced to miss the meeting.
Andersen, the captain and one remaining rider from the team that was nominated at the start of the summer, was a late withdrawal after aggravating a shoulder injury, so
Adam Roynan was drafted in at his replacement. He joined fellow guests Scott Nicholls and Adam Summers in what was another severely depleted Gladiators side.
The defeat ends any hopes of silverware this season, but there is still one more race night at the Coliseum with the rearranged league clash with Glasgow taking place next Tuesday. That must be played out, otherwise the club would be fit with a fine for failing to fulfil their fixtures and with it comes the opportunity of finishing fourth in the table.
Reflecting on the campaign, team boss Garry May said: “It is what it is. We have got one more match against Glasgow at home next week now and if we can win that, then at least we finish fourth in the league, which looks good. Then, if Mark still wants me for next year, then we will build for next year.
“I think, with the team that we had put together, we would have worried a few teams, especially at home, by getting a good score and then holding it away. Up until we started getting the injuries, we hadn’t lost by more than six points away.
“We were looking so good and it has fallen apart, hasn’t it? It’s so disappointing, but what can you do? We can’t do anything, but at least we made the play-offs and it is another step in the right direction to getting Plymouth some silverware.”
It is a real shame that the side declared at the start of the season never really got a chance to show what they can do and a sign of what was to come was evident in the opening heat of the season when Eddie Kennett tumbled and suffered damage to his already delicate arm, which meant he missed the entire summer.
Perhaps a marker of what could have been achieved can be taken from the league meetings against the Pirates, which saw a full-strength Plymouth win 53-37 on home shale before holding the Pirates to a 45-45 draw away back in May and June.
This time, there was sadly no real competition although Nicholls rose to the challenge with a brilliant 14-point haul from six rides. However, that was eclipsed by Lee Complin, the new reserve rider for the Gladiators, who stole the show with a brilliant 15-point haul from seven rides.
Unfortunately, there were few others that contributed sufficiently to turn the tie on its head and so it is Poole that progress where they will meet Glasgow in the semi-finals.