POOLE are on the verge of a clean sweep of major honours in the Cab Direct Championship after thrashing injury-hit Oxford in the first leg of the Knockout Cup Final on Thursday night.
The meeting was marred by a nasty crash in Heat 4 involving Cheetahs’ Scott Nicholls and Tom Brennan of the Pirates, which resulted in Nicholls being taken to hospital with a dislocated shoulder. Already tracking three guests in their starting line-up, depleted Oxford were no match for the rampant visitors following the loss of Nicholls as Poole cantered to a huge 57-33 win, a result which effectively renders the second leg a formality. Should the Pirates complete an aggregate victory, they will complete the Cab Direct Championship treble of league, cup and BSN Series. Pirates boss Neil Middleditch said: “For sure it was a good win for us, but I can't stop thinking about Scotty who is a good friend of mine. Seeing him suffer that injury wasn't a great sight to be honest and I just want to wish him a speedy recovery. “But we had a job to do tonight, and the boys went out there and put on a great show. We had two great performances from our two reserves, and I can't tell you how pleased Toby (Tobias Thomsen) was to beat Sam Masters when they met. “It certainly is ours to lose now and whilst I don't think the same level of tension will be there on Wednesday when we complete the season, I am sure Oxford will still be looking to make us work for it.”