SWINDON 45 PIRATES 45

After a none-too auspicious start to their Easter Sunday SGB Premiership encounter at Swindon the VOLVO CARS POOLE Pirates were indebted to skipper Hans Andersen who masterminded the recovery and ultimately saved them from defeat.

Poole were 6 points down by the time Andersen had his first action but his defeat of Nick Morris , who moved well in advance of the tapes being released in heat 4 ensured the Pirates weren't to slip any further behind.

Andersen then became embroiled in a captain's dog-fight in his next appearance, just losing out to Jason Doyle but doing enough to prevent another home maximum heat.

As the Easter rain began to drizzle down Poole made the expected reserves switch and the incoming Nicolai Klindt paired up with Jack Holder for a 5-1 that halved the deficit. Poole had an opportunity in heat 9 to square the meeting but the impressive David Bellego managed to get in between Andersen and Klindt to minimise the damage.

When Nick Morris was left standing at the tapes in heat 11 there was an ideal opportunity for the Pirates to take advantage but reserve Emil Grondal proved the stumbling block as he passed Klindt to restrict Poole to a 4-2 - which did level the scores.

Kerr and Klindt then hit the Robins hard with a 5-1 as Poole went ahead for the first time in the meeting and Andersen's bravery in heat 13 to get the better of big hitters Morris and Doyle guaranteed the Pirates would keep up their proud record of getting at least a point from each of their SGB Premiership matches ridden.

But when Kurtz conceded too much ground to Bellego in heat 14 and had to wait patiently before he could get by Grondal the meeting headed to a last heat decider with the home side needing maximum points.

As Morris and Doyle hit the first turn ahead of Andersen and Kurtz the chase was on and in a brave and breathtaking move the Poole captain went as wide as he could and put himself alongsiide Doyle then went on to get clear of his counterpart. To reel in Morris was a step too far but Andersen had done enough to secure the draw and gain the Pirates two more league points.

SWINDON 45
J. Doyle 3,3,3,1',1=11+1
B. Wilson-Dean 2',1,1,0=4+1
A. Ellis 1,0,0=1
D. Bellego 3,3,2,3=11
N. Morris 2,3,R,2,3=10
E. Grondal 1',0,2,1,1=5+1
Z. Wajtknecht 2,1',0,0=3+1
POOLE 45
K. Kasprzak 1,1',3,0=5+1
J. Holder 0,2,2',1=5+1
L. Kerr 0,1',1',3=5+2
B. Kurtz 2,2,2,2,0=8
H. Andersen 3,2,3,3,2=13
N. Klindt 3,0,3,1,2'=9+1
D. Ritchings 0,0,0=0

Ht 1 J. Doyle B. Wilson-Dean K. Kasprzak J. Holder 5-1 (5-1) (66.84)
Ht 2 N. Klindt Z. Wajtknecht E. Grondal D. Ritchings 3-3 (8-4) (67.89)
Ht 3 D. Bellego B. Kurtz A. Ellis L. Kerr 4-2 (12-6) (66.95)
Ht 4 H. Andersen N. Morris Z. Wajtknecht D. Ritchings 3-3 (15-9) (67.32)
Ht 5 D. Bellego J. Holder K. Kasprzak A. Ellis 3-3 (18-12) (66.86)
Ht 6 J. Doyle H. Andersen B. Wilson-Dean N. Klindt 4-2 (22-14) (67.86)
Ht 7 N. Morris B. Kurtz L. Kerr E. Grondal 3-3 (25-17) (67.14)
Ht 8 N. Klindt J. Holder B. Wilson-Dean Z. Wajtknecht 1-5 (26-22) (68.31)
Ht 9 H. Andersen D. Bellego N. Klindt A. Ellis 2-4 (28-26) (67.74)
Ht 10 J. Doyle B. Kurtz L. Kerr B. Wilson-Dean 3-3 (31-29) (67.9)
Ht 11 K. Kasprzak E. Grondal J. Holder N. Morris (Rtd) 2-4 (33-33) (68.52)
Ht 12 L. Kerr N. Klindt E. Grondal Z. Wajtknecht 1-5 (34-38) (68.21)
Ht 13 H. Andersen N. Morris J. Doyle K. Kasprzak 3-3 (37-41) (67.61)
Ht 14 D. Bellego B. Kurtz E. Grondal D. Ritchings 4-2 (41-43) (67.9)
Ht 15 N. Morris H. Andersen J. Doyle B. Kurtz 4-2 (45-45) (69)

Referee Graham Reeve
Gates Poole won toss & take 1&3.Swindon took 2&4 in heat 15
SWINDON 1 league point POOLE 2 league points

Rider of the Night: Hans Andersen