THE MAGICIAN VERSUS THE WIZ(W)ARD

The mouth-watering prospect of seeing Poole's own  'Magician' Maciej Janowski go head to head against the Wizard Ward when the Swindon Robins visit Wimborne Road this coming Wednesday is certainly one to savour.

Ready Power Pirates skipper Janowski has been unbeaten in his last two performances around the Dorset venue and is sure to be tested to the hilt when Poole asset Darcy Ward makes his first racing appearance at Wimborne Road since 20th August 2014.

Ward, snatched up by the Robins once his 10 month FIM ban  was served,  has already boosted the Robins' hopes of making the top four in the league and claim their place in the play-offs.

Ahead of their Monday trip to Wolverhampton, the Wiltshire side currently sit just three points behind fourth placed Belle Vue and have matches in-hand, albeit a tough run-in with 9 of their remaining 13 meetings being on 'the road'.

But it is this coming Wednesday's trip that is getting everyone talking as Swindon make the first of two visits to the Pirates - they will be back again on 19th August - following the recent changes made to Alun Rossiter's Robins.

The Pirates, who head into the meeting on the back of two successive 60-33 home wins,  know that the inclusion of Ward in the Robins seven is bound to make their task harder as they still strive to catch league-leaders Coventry, who they trail by three points. 

Poole boss Matt Ford, who despite those two heavy home victories is still considering his options for a possible re-jig to his side,  pointed out "it is not just the points that Darcy is capable of scoring on track that makes this a tough meeting, but also the inspiration and boost that he can bring to the rest of the Swindon team. You look at their side and you can already see quality performers like Troy Batchelor, Grzegorz Zengota and Nick Morris whilst they also have Charles Wright at reserve who has improved massively with the more experience he has gained. They can all raise their game when they feel they are in a winning environment and that makes Swindon a real threat right now"

"It doesn't need me to say that this is a big meeting for both sides and promises to be an exciting, if not nervous meeting but I must remind everyone that the only way to see the drama unfold will be here on the terraces. This is not a televised meeting so I can only encourage all fans to turn up on Wednesday and be part of what could be a classic night of speedway racing.

Ward's last appearance at Wimborne Road 11 months ago saw him score 8+1 and if the Pirates can restrict him to that level of return on Wednesday then the Poole boss is likely to be  a happy man. "We have had two unbeaten performers in each of our last two matches here  and nothing would please me more than for that statistic to become a hat-trick."