Lights out! Lawson and Brennan star as Poole take lead in bizarre Edinburgh cup tie

POOLE Pirates will take a nine-point lead into their Knockout Cup quarter-final second leg against Edinburgh Monarchs, after a dramatic night at Wimborne Road.

Mechanical gremlins affected the meeting, which ended with no emergency red lights or starting tapes in operation.

When the meeting was finally concluded, Richard Lawson (14) and Tom Brennan (11+1) led the way as Poole took a 49-40 victory.

Lawson picked up where he left off in the season opener, where he won all five of his races, with a tapes-to-flag win in a shared heat one.

Edinburgh then got their noses in front. With 16-year-old Max James out in front, Sam Hagon looked to swoop around the outside of him at the start of lap four, but fell and the result was awarded.

But Poole hit straight back with a maximum, courtesy of Zach Cook and Brennan.

Justin Sedgmen won heat four from the gate as the overall score was levelled, before Pickering took the honours in a shared heat five.

Tobias Thomsen dug in to battle back and take third in the following race to ensure Poole got back ahead in the tie, Lawson again out in front.

The drama continued in the subsequent three heats. Firstly, Hagon and Paco Castagna raced all the way to the line for second behind Ben Cook, the Monarchs captain just snatching the position.

There was then a big delay after Hagon fell in heat eight. Despite both him and James, whose bike lost power, still on track, the red lights failed to show.

In the interests of safety, the meeting was paused as the electrical issue was investigated.

With a temporary solution found, racing resumed, but the re-run controversially did not include James, leading to some heated conversations in the pits. Instead just two riders came to tapes, Dane Thomsen trailing Norwegian Lasse Fredriksen all the way round, until storming up to pip him on the line before treating the grandstand to an extravagant celebration.

Brennan and Zach Cook then combined for a second maximum together of the night, Poole moving 31-23 up.

Lawson continued his winning streak in a shared heat 10, Thomsen not quite able to reel in Castagna in the minor placings.

Edinburgh reduced the arrears to 36-29 as Josh Pickering bagged his second race win of the night, Hagon again failing to finish at the back.

The seven-point lead remained after a dominant showing from Brennan, before there was another delay due to an issue with the starting tapes. After failing to find a fix, it was agreed the fixture would be completed without the tapes, instead using a green start light.

Ben Cook was warned after jumping the start, before Pickering won the re-run.

After a shared heat 14, Lawson got back to winning ways to close out the night, having finally lost his perfect record to Pickering two heats earlier.

The second leg is due to take place at Armadale on Friday, May 3.

Pirates 49: Lawson 14, Thomsen 4, Brennan 11+1, Z Cook 8+2, B Cook 8+1, Hagon 2+1, Perry 2.

Edinburgh 40: Pickering 13, Fredriksen 4+1, Thomson 5, Castagna 6+1, Sedgmen 6, James 4, Coles 2.