TEAM boss Cami Brown admits it was “hugely frustrating” after refereeing decisions went against his side at Poole.
The Allied Vehicles Tigers were beaten 52-38 by the Pirates in Dorset in the MAXICab KO Cup semi-final first leg.
Brown’s side led by 22-20 after seven races but a plethora of contentious decisions by referee Christina Turnbull cost the visitors.
Brown said: “It was hugely frustrating to say the least.
“I spoke to Christina on several occasions. Every decision went against us. I made my feelings clear.
“There were four poor decisions. Dayle Wood was clearly taken down by Tobias Thomsen in Heat 6.
“Richard Lawson went down on his own in Heat 10 after he missed the start but was allowed in the re-run. Fraser Bowes was knocked off by Paul Starke in Heat 11 and Leon Flint clearly knocked off by Zach Cook in Heat 14.
“Every time this happened, Poole got a heat advantage in the re-run.
“Those were the turning points in the meeting. It has probably cost us at least six to eight points.
“Other than that we fought really hard and led after seven heats.
“A special mention for our guests Fraser and Dayle. I think Fraser actually tried too hard while Dayle got stuck in and battled for crucial points.”
The return leg is at Ashfield on September 7 and Brown admits he won’t need to motivate his team.
He added: “One thing is for sure, we won’t need a motivational team talk for the second leg. The boys are fired-up.
“We are surprised by the hostility shown towards our riders at the stadium. They received verbal abuse throughout the meeting by the fans near the pits. The atmosphere was extremely volatile.
“We are also surprised by some of the tactics used with a win at all costs attitude.
“For a club of Poole’s deemed stature, that’s very sad and we don’t believe that is acceptable or necessary.
“But we move on and we will come back stronger, that’s for sure.
“We have overcome many hurdles before with Poole and we will do it again.
“I would love our fans to pack out Ashfield for the second leg and make our stadium a cauldron. Our fans can definitely be the eighth rider in the team.”
MAXiCAB KO Cup, Semi-Final, 1st leg.
POOLE 52: Richard Lawson 15, Zach Cook 12+1, Tobias Thomsen 7+1, Will Cairns 7+1, Paul Starke 5+1, Anders Rowe 3+2, Lewis Kerr 3.
GLASGOW 38: Chris Harris 10, Kyle Howarth 9+1, Dan Thompson 8, Leon Flint 4+2, Dayle Wood 4, Fraser Bowes 2+1, Freddy Hodder 1.
Image by Liam Cockwell.