Former Edinburgh Monarchs star Rory Schlein (pictured) top scored for double-chasing Poole Pirates as they clinched the SGB Championship Grand Final with a 56-34 home win over Glasgow Tigers for a 12-point aggregate triumph overall.
Rory Schlein scored 11 points and a bonus in the second-leg in Dorset, the final meeting of his British career, and that total matched by club captain Danny King. Another former Edinburgh Monarchs racer, Craig Cook, scored 11 for Tigers.
Pirates lost the first-leg 50-40 but cancelled out that deficit after eight races of the return at Wimborne Road and a 5-1 in Heat 14 mathematically secured victory.
Danny Ford, Pirates’ co-promoter, said: “I was quietly confident going into this meeting that we could win the title.
“I know this bunch of lads and what they are capable of, and just knew if they went into this and rode like they have done so many times this season that they would come through with the victory.
“I knew they were up for it and Rory sent a message yesterday to the WhatsApp group that was so emotional it even had me wanting to get out there on a bike and make it happen.
“He wanted to go out with a bang after his 21 years of racing over here.”
Defiant Cami Brown, Tigers’ team manager, said Tigers will regroup to mount another effort for the elusive league title.
It is the second season running that they have missed out in the decider, with the club having reached the play-offs every year since 2015.
He admitted: “The better team won on the night. Although we rode very well in the home leg to go ten points ahead,, I thought we might have been a few points short.”
Brown added: “We’ve lost to the most successful team in speedway. When they get a chance, they beat teams well. We fought hard but we just didn’t have enough heat winners.
“It wasn’t for the lack of preparation, we’ve been prepping them all week and doing a lot of things off the track as we always do.
“The guys were in a really good place coming into the match, but they knew their own track inside-out.”
Brown recalled that the club have been in the semi-finals or Grand Final for six seasons and said: “That’s something we can be proud of. We’ve stayed consistent and one day we’ll get over the line.”
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