Scunthorpe in "cheat" storm after dramatic Grand Final decider

FURIOUS Scunthorpe boss David Howe blasted his side had been “CHEATED” as the Cab Direct Championship title decider ended in an angry storm. 

It was the most controversial end to the season of all time as Poole won their fifth crown in six years on their home circuit in Dorset on Wednesday night.

The dramatic Grand Final saw the two-legged tie end 90-90 on aggregate between the sides, which meant a Super Heat one race decider. 

Poole’s Zach Cook roared underneath Scunthorpe star Josh Pickering to take the lead on the second lap and the home side went on to win the race and spark wild celebrations. 

But the North Lincolnshire riders and bosses were angry after believing that Cook’s bike had gone over the inside white line as he passed Pickering. That would mean an exclusion from the race for leaving the circuit. 

As the Pirates riders and supporters - along with local star Harry Redknapp - enjoyed the glory, Scunthorpe’s riders and management raged in the pits. 

Live on BSN, Howe blasted: “I was on the phone to the referee before the race was over. 

“The rear view he is clearly over the white line which is an excludable offence. 

“Show him the footage, show it again. The referee has an obligation to make the right decision. 

“This isn’t a little meeting. The referee cost us at Scunny on Friday when a Poole rider cheated. Now the referee is going to cheat us out of it with this. It’s not right, it’s not right at all.

“I can nearly guarantee that if it had been Josh Pickering who had crossed the white line that result would have been overturned.

“We are now looking to see what can be done and what action we can now take.”

Referee Paul Carrington awarded the result after the race as Poole’s Cook received the bumps for winning the decider. 

Scunthorpe No.1 Pickering was equally fuming and added: “From the front angle you can’t see bugger all. It’s the view they showed from behind. 

“Zach’s a mate and I’ve already congratulated him. But at the end of the day, if he went over the inside, he went over the inside. Nothing wrong with my eyes.”

Scunthorpe won their home leg 49-41 on Friday and it was the same scoreline at Poole Stadium in Wimborne Road. 

It was a night of pure drama with Scunthorpe’s Nathan Ablitt (collarbone) and Poole’s Lewis Kerr (concussion) were both ruled out after big crashes in Heats 2 and 3. 

Howe continued: “After 2 hours sleep I don’t really feel that much better but here goes.

“Firstly I would like to congratulate Poole on once again building a team that is capable of topping the league and winning championships, Matt (Ford), Danny (Ford) and Middlo (Neil Middleditch) I applaud everything you do.

“Secondly, I do not subscribe to any opinion that Poole cheated, riders make split second decisions and if you believe that Zach crossed the inside white line, I do not believe for one second it was intentional or to gain an advantage.

“However, I do believe that some of the refereeing decisions this season have been questionable at best. It is not fair on riders that time after time rules that don’t exist are enforced and others rules that do are not only to be told later that ‘sorry I made a mistake’.

“I have had this on at least three occasions this year, twice where punishment given wasn’t even in the rule book. Also for balance we had a decision go our way at Edinburgh where Dan Thompson was disqualified where it was so obvious that he shouldn’t have been it was comical.

“Last night was a tough one, it’s a big call to make, I fully believe that track limits were breached but I can understand Poole defending their rider, the league was on the line and to overturn that retrospectively is now almost impossible.

“However Heat 8 in the first leg as I said it would come back to haunt us. There was clear evidence of tyre warming, the referee still started the race even as we were trying to appeal, then refused to watch the evidence but as always says after ‘I watched the replay and I made a mistake’. 

“Whether the warming changed the result of that heat is neither here nor there, the rule book is clear and should have been put from 15m for the first offence, second offence is disqualification with no replacement. 

“Did this affect the result I think there is a reasonable argument it did and if the powers that be had felt that was unacceptable I think that result should have been amended.

“Losing I can accept, I am not a bad loser it does not mean I like it but all I want is a level playing field.”

Words by Phil Lanning.

Images by Taylor Lanning.