POOLE boss Danny Ford admits his side are “ready for a fight” following a war of words with Glasgow.
The Pirates go to Ashfield Stadium tonight to defend a 34-point lead in the BSN Series Final, live on BSN.
But Ford turned up the heat on the occasion by revealing that his team are “riled up” following Glasgow’s criticism of the Poole track after their heavy first leg defeat.
He said: “Glasgow are a promotion that I have the utmost respect for, but I think on that occasion they were simply looking for excuses trying to justify a heavy defeat.
“Berwick came to ours just a week later and Rory Schlein, one highly respected rider in the UK, a former British champion of course, commented how good the track was and how raceable it was.
“Put simply, our boys liked it, theirs didn’t. Hopefully going into the second leg they will be up for it a little bit more.“Fingers crossed Glasgow will make a match of it, they have certainly riled us up with their comments. Just as always, we will be ready for the fight and we will be looking to take the win, not just on aggregate, but on the night as well.”
Glasgow boss Cami Brown has vowed his side will “give it everything” to produce a BSN Series Final miracle.
It would appear to be an impossible task against the successive league and cup double champions.
But Brown said: “It’s a mountain to climb obviously. But when the boys go on track tonight, they will give it everything.
“Miracles do happen in speedway. We would have to produce something remarkable to win the BSN Series trophy but we will give it the best go possible.
“There’s a lot at stake tonight. Poole have dominated this league since they returned to it in 2021.
“They are a remarkable club with an outstanding management, the most successful club this century in British speedway. We greatly admire that.
“But we want to put them under pressure. That starts tonight, they are beatable because Oxford showed that.
“We haven’t beaten them since the 2021 season at Ashfield. That’s a record we need to halt immediately. So we need to get a win for the fans.
“In just nine days time they are back at Ashfield in the Cab Direct Championship, so we need to lay down a marker that we mean business.
“Whatever happens, when Poole are in town it is going to be a huge night of speedway. But we want to give our fans something to cheer about, that’s the plan.”
GLASGOW: Chris Harris, Marcin Nowak, Benjamin Basso, Claus Vissing, Tom Brennan, Lee Complin, Ace Pijper.
POOLE: Richard Lawson, Anders Rowe, Ben Cook, Zach Cook, Steve Worrall, Kyle Newman, Adam Roynon.
Words by Holeshot Media.
Images by Taylor Lanning.