Poole made to settle for trophy double as Bears take BSN Series crown

Team boss Neil Middleditch credited the Redcar Bears for rising to the occasion, as Poole Pirates were beaten in the final of the BSN Series.

The Bears recorded a 45-45 draw at Wimborne Road, which proved enough to give them a 91-89 victory on aggregate, having won 46-44 on home shale last weekend.

A turning point in a tight meeting came when Poole’s Tobias Thomsen suffered a nasty spill in heat 10 which left him needing treatment.

The aggregate defeat meant Poole missed out on a treble of trophies in 2025, having already won the SGB Championship and Knockout Cup this season.

Reflecting on the setback, Middleditch said: “Listen, I'm not making any excuses, Redcar were the better team and they deserved to win the title, but obviously that race when we lost Toby when we had a dead cert 5-1, really unsettled us.

“To be fair, I had already stepped down, thinking the 5-1 was in the bag, we were that close, but then the crowd roared and unfortunately Toby had suffered a big crash.

“Of course, our main concern is that Toby is okay, that has to be the main thing, but Redcar have been a great team all season.

“Their manager, Gavin (Parr) said before the start of the meeting that we had stopped them at every corner - knocked them out of the play-offs, beat them in the Knockout Cup, but they rose to the occasion and I congratulate them for doing so.

“I feel though for Zach (Cook) as he desperately wanted to achieve the treble and follow in his brother's footsteps. He is bitterly disappointed to have missed out on it, but he shouldn't be really.

“We have all had a fantastic season here at Poole this season. Many teams would be happy to get one trophy and we have got two so we should feel proud on that score."