MATCH REPORT: Comets win incident packed match

Report by Graham Sutton,Photos by Arthur Lawrence

If any more proof were needed about the quality of the racing provided by the newly introduced English Charity Shield then it was here in spades as the Comets and Hammers locked horns in a close and incident packed encounter at Harbourside Park in front of another very healthy holiday crowd.

Racing was preceded by a special introductory lap for newly crowned World Champion Ben Mould before he stormed to the first of four heat wins in the opening race. Zac Payne and George Horsley gave the visitors an early advantage with a 7 – 3 in heat 3 and it was nip and tuck throughout the rest of the first half as Poole clung to a slender two point interval advantage.

The Comets hit a purple patch mid second half with four race advantages but the Hammers were still not done and hit back with two 6 – 3’s of their own in the closing heats to keep the scoreline close and reflective of their efforts throughout.

Both sides experienced their fair share of tumbles and misfortunes with Matt Mildon and Ben Donohue both nursing thumb injuries. An A&E visit for Ben revealed that he had a break which will unfortunately rule him out for the rest of the season.

Matt also took a trip to A&E but fortunately escaped with nothing more than a bad sprain.

Aaron Smith and Ben Mould were again a class act for the Comets with the rest of the team providing solid backing while Zac Payne was tactically astute for the Hammers as always and formed a formidable pairing with the much improved George Horsley.

The two sides will be back in action at Harbourside in two week’s time but with very different line-ups in their SWW League encounter using the newly introduced 10-a-side race formula.

POOLE DOLPHIN CENTRE COMETS 92 HORSPATH 84

POOLE – Ben Mould 19, Aaron Smith 18, Matt Mildon 12, Fraser Garnett 10, Wil Bristowe 7, Kyran Yeatman 6, Nathan Goulden 6, Ben Donohue 4

HORSPATH – David Leiberman 13, George Horsley 13, Lukasz Nowacki 12, Jack Ellis 12, Zac Payne 12, Jake Neighbour 11, Owen Johnson 9, Andy Johnson 2