BELLE VUE 48 PIRATES 42

The 'Volvo Cars' Poole Pirates collected their 15th point of the season, 5th away from home but saw an early lead against Belle Vue wiped out in the second half of their SGB Premiership league clash in Manchester.

Brady Kurtz and Linus Sundstrom gave team manager Neil Middleditch his wish of a decent start to the meeting, firing in a 5-1 in heat one, although this was to prove, somewhat surprisingly given the efforts of his endeavours, Sundstrom's only score of the night.

Polish bragging rights were to the fore in heat two, Poole's Szczepaniak holding firm over his Aces' compatriot Damion Drozdz whilst Kacper Woryna attempted to get close to the front runners after seeing off Aussie Jye Etheridge, who was to prove a match-turner as the meeting unfolded.

The Pirates could have held on to their early six point lead but Dan Bewley caught ex-Ace Richie Worrall unawares on the final lap of heat three to salvage a 4-2 for the home side, Tungate leading home Nicolai Klindt.

Preciously Poole clung to the four point advantage with a rapid sequence of shared heats before the Aces were able to square proceedings in the 8th as Woryna found himself weighing up his options on the first bend  with Garrity heading for the outside sweep and Drodz just ahead of him on the inside. The Aces pulled clear rapidly for the 5-1 and then instantly took a lead of their own despite the efforts of Szczepaniak to try and hold Bewley out of the points, which just faltered on the final lap.

Poole were undone by a superb piece of riding by Jason Garrity in heat 10 to split leader Klindt and Worrall, the latter then succumbing to pressure from Cook to deny Poole the opportunity to square the meeting.

Aussies Max Fricke and, most impressively Etheridge, gave their fellow Aussie Kurtz plenty to do in heat 11 but try as he might, the Poole number one just couldn’t make any progress and instantly the Aces were sitting on a 6-point advantage.

Kurtz was called upon immediately after the break to take a tactical ride and he quickly took command of the heat but the points were only shared. The Aces' number one then saved things big time for the home side as Fricke packed up at the start but single-handedly Cook denied Kurtz and Grajczonek any glory  and still Poole had to try and close a six point deficit.

Woryna and Tungate were box-office entertainment as they tussled shoulder to shoulder throughout heat 14 in which Klindt had done well initially from the gate. But whilst the Dane lost ground so Woryna kept looking for the chance to pull clear of his rival and found the right line off the final turn to be able to cling to his precious advantage.

Still trailing by six the Pirates had no hope of a match win going into the final heat, but the consolation point was still on the line. Kurtz and Woryna were the obvious choices for Middleditch and the Pirates' reserve hunted Cook throughout. Kurtz was an early backmarker but when Fricke nearly ran up the back of Woryna, Kurtz was there to capitilize and charge through for the third place to maintain the six point deficit. Woryna pursued in his pursuit of Cook and Fricke recovered well to keep Kurtz on his toes but with no further changes in position the consolation point was in the bag.

BELLE VUE 48
C.Cook 1,3,1',3,3=11+1
J.Garrity 0,F,3,2=5
D.Bewley 1,2,1,2=6
R.Tungate 3,1',3,2=9+1
M.Fricke 3,2,3,R,0=8
J.Etheridge 0,1',2',1'=4+3
D.Drozdz 2,0,2',1'=5+2

POOLE 42
B.Kurtz 3,3,1,3,2,1'=13+1
L.Sundstrom 2',0,0,0=2+1
R.Worrall 0,3,0,0=3
N.Klindt 2,R,3,0=5
J.Grajczonek 1',2,2,1'=6+2
M.Szczepaniak 3,1',0=4+1
K.Woryna 1,2,1,3,2=9

Ht 1: B.Kurtz, L.Sundstrom, C.Cook, J.Garrity |1-5 | 1-5 [61.35]
Ht 2: M.Szczepaniak, D.Drozdz, K.Woryna, J.Etheridge |2-4 | 3-9 [61.84]
Ht 3: R.Tungate, N.Klindt, D.Bewley, R.Worrall |4-2 | 7-11 [60.66]
Ht 4: M.Fricke, K.Woryna, J.Grajczonek, D.Drozdz |3-3 | 10-14 [60.88]
Ht 5: B.Kurtz, D.Bewley, R.Tungate, L.Sundstrom |3-3 | 13-17 [60.81]
Ht 6: C.Cook, J.Grajczonek, M.Szczepaniak, J.Garrity (Fell) |3-3 | 16-20 [awd]
Ht 7: R.Worrall, M.Fricke, J.Etheridge, N.Klindt (Rtd) |3-3 | 19-23 [61.85]
Ht 8: J.Garrity, D.Drozdz, K.Woryna, L.Sundstrom |5-1 | 24-24 [63.09]
Ht 9: R.Tungate, J.Grajczonek, D.Bewley, M.Szczepaniak |4-2 | 28-26 [62.15]
Ht 10: N.Klindt, J.Garrity, C.Cook, R.Worrall |3-3 | 31-29 [62.82]
Ht 11: M.Fricke, J.Etheridge, B.Kurtz, L.Sundstrom |5-1 | 36-30 [62.53]
Ht 12: B.Kurtz (TS), D.Bewley, D.Drozdz, R.Worrall |3-3 | 39-33 [62.63]
Ht 13: C.Cook, B.Kurtz, J.Grajczonek, M.Fricke (Rtd) |3-3 | 42-36 [62.75]
Ht 14: K.Woryna, R.Tungate, J.Etheridge, N.Klindt |3-3 | 45-39 [63.38]
Ht 15: C.Cook, K.Woryna, B.Kurtz, M.Fricke |3-3 | 48-42 [62.56]
Referee Margaret Vardy
Gates: POOLE won toss and chose gates 1&3 | BELLE VUE took gates 1&3 in heat 15
League Points BELLE VUE 3 POOLE 1
Rider of the Night: Kacper Woryna