Plymouth’s weekend of three meetings in three days ended without a league point, but the bigger picture is not as bleak as the raw results suggest. The Gladiators came through a difficult run at Edinburgh, Berwick and Redcar with their play-off hopes still intact, and with several sides above them having games in hand, the Championship race remains finely balanced.
The Friday defeat at Armadale set the tone for the weekend. Edinburgh won 52-38 to strengthen their position in the top three, and the scoreline also saw them take the aggregate point. For Plymouth, there was again resistance from the middle and top of the line-up, with Scott Nicholls scoring 12 and Danny King 11+1, but the home side’s strength in depth made the difference. All six Edinburgh riders scored at least paid nine, and that sort of collective return is hard to contain over 15 heats.
That was the key theme across the whole weekend. Plymouth had moments of threat, but the opponents were able to absorb pressure and respond when it mattered. At Berwick on Saturday, the Gladiators were four points up approaching the halfway stage and had the meeting in a live position, only for it to swing late. The contest went to a last heat decider, where Scott Nicholls was disqualified for touching the tapes and Peter Kildemand and Nick Morris sealed a 49-41 win for the Bandits with a 5-1 over Danny King and Anze Grmek. King again finished strongly with 11, while Ben Barker scored 10.
Sunday brought another difficult away test, and Redcar moved above Plymouth in the table with a 51-39 win at the Ecco Arena. Jody Scott led the way for the Bears with 14+2, while Charles Wright added 10 for Redcar. Plymouth had useful contributions of their own, with Joe Thompson scoring 10+2 and Danny King 10, but the home side did enough to take the league points and the aggregate point as well.
Taken together, it was a weekend that showed both the challenge and the opportunity facing the Gladiators. The challenge is clear enough: Plymouth have completed 12 meetings, more than Redcar, Glasgow, Edinburgh or Poole, and that means the sides around them all still have extra chances to build points. Poole, in particular, have only raced six meetings and are almost certain to finish comfortably inside the top four.
That leaves Plymouth chasing more realistically after Redcar, with Glasgow also in the conversation if their form dips. The encouraging part for the Gladiators is that they have already banked league points, plus two aggregate bonus points, and they have shown they can compete with sides in and around them. Wins against Redcar and Scunthorpe, along with that close-fought meeting with Edinburgh, are reminders that the league table does not tell the full story.
The remaining run-in gives Plymouth a route back into the race. Home meetings against Poole, Workington and Glasgow are still to come, along with the away trip to Poole, and those fixtures will go a long way to deciding whether the season finishes with a place in the play-offs or a frustrating near miss. The challenge now becomes turning the promise shown in patches into the points needed on the board.
After a weekend like this, there is no escaping the fact that Plymouth need a strong finish. But the hope is still there, and the next few meetings will tell us whether the Gladiators can make it count when the season reaches its decisive stage.
Photo credit: JACK CUPIDO