RESULT: POOLE v COVENTRY (EL)

Coventry arrived fully intent on trying to rock the form book and were certainly giving the Pirates plenty to contend with in the early exchanges until the Pirates' Powerhouse kicked in.

Coventry took an early lead with a 4-2 as Kasprzak produced a blistering time of 58.69 but Poole reserves Ellis and Newman squashed that advantage with a 5-1. An enjoyable battle between Chris Harris and Hans Andersen highlighted heat 3 with Danny King doing well to recover from running wide in the early stages and eventually pass Dave Watt to square the scores. A stunned Poole crowd saw Bates and Garrity clock a 5-1 despite Buczkowski's pressing interests and whispers were running round the stadium that this was going to be a tough night.

Until that is , a match levelling 5-1 from Adam Ellis and Brady Kurtz, two Pirates who were recipients of £500 donations from the Riders' Equipment Fund post meeting , began an incredible points spree of 30 out of 30 which effectively put them out of sight of the visitors.

In all honesty the Pirates were the benefactors of a huge slice of fortune in what promised to be one of the Bees favoured pairings in heat 6, but both Chris Harris and Krzysztof Kasprzak were respectively disqualified in a thrice started heat.

Harris went down on the fourth turn causing the first re-run in which Kasprak found himself rearing awkwardly at the first turn and heading straight for the airbarrier. That allowed Dave Watt and Buczkowski to match race other for an unchallenged maximum set of points, just the tonic that Watt needed to try and rediscover his form.

Hans Andersen, mounted on a new engine and number on Chris Holder, who misses Friday night's return at Coventry, went either side of a below par Danny King as the points continued to flow into the Pirates account and the visitors could find litte in terms of response.

Brady Kurtz and Josh Bates both hit the deck at the first turn of heat 9 and in the re-start Kurtz produced the move of the night as he stormed through from the back to take up the lead in the space of the first lap of the-start and shortly afterwards Adam Ellis, unbeaten all night by an opponent, backed him up.

Manager Gary Havelock gambled with a tactical ride for Kasprzak in heat 10 but Andersen did enough at the first turn to initially allow Dave Watt to establish a lead which only the Dane could make up it. As the race unfolded and Andersen took up the initiative the Pirates fans as one were urging Watt to hold firm in second, a task he achieved to rapturous applause.

Any threat of a recovery had effectively been extinquished and it took a great ride from Chris Harris to pick off Holder in heat 11 to end the sequence of maximum heat advantages in Poole's favour but still they led by a mammoth 23 points.

Ellis and Newman put another 5-1 on the card, Newman producing an incredibly fast last lap to reel in and pass Josh Bates on the run to the line. Harris then became the first Bees race winner in nine heats, as he got clear of Andersen and Holder for only the first shared heat of the night.

Successive lap passes by Watt then Buczkowski on Josh Bates gave Poole their 9th maximum score of the night before the evening closed out with a shared heat for a final score of 60-29.

POOLE 60
C. Holder 2,2',1,1'=6+2
B. Kurtz 0,2',3,3,0=8+1
D. Watt 0,3,2',3=8+1
K. Buczkowski 1,2',3,2'=8+2
H. Andersen 2,3,3,2,3=13
A. Ellis 3,3,2',3=11+1
K. Newman 2',0,2',2'=6+3
COVENTRY 29
K. Kasprzak 3,FD,1,0=4
J. Garrity 1,2',1,1,0,1'=6+2
D. King 1,1,0,0=2
R. Replacement =0
C. Harris 3,FD,2,3,2=10
J. Sarjeant 1,0,0,1,0=2
J. Bates 0,3,0,0,1,1=5

Ht 1 K. Kasprzak C. Holder J. Garrity B. Kurtz 2-4 (2-4) (58.69)
Ht 2 A. Ellis K. Newman J. Sarjeant J. Bates 5-1 (7-5) (59.59)
Ht 3 C. Harris H. Andersen D. King D. Watt 2-4 (9-9) (59.9)
Ht 4 J. Bates J. Garrity K. Buczkowski K. Newman 1-5 (10-14) (60.31)
Ht 5 A. Ellis B. Kurtz J. Garrity J. Sarjeant 5-1 (15-15) (60.12)
Ht 6 D. Watt K. Buczkowski K. Kasprzak (Fell d/q) C. Harris (Fell d/q) 5-0 (20-15) (60.75)
Ht 7 H. Andersen C. Holder D. King J. Sarjeant 5-1 (25-16) (60.72)
Ht 8 K. Buczkowski K. Newman J. Garrity J. Bates 5-1 (30-17) (59.21)
Ht 9 B. Kurtz A. Ellis J. Sarjeant J. Bates 5-1 (35-18) (60.85)
Ht 10 H. Andersen D. Watt K. Kasprzak (TR) J. Garrity 5-1 (40-19) (61)
Ht 11 B. Kurtz C. Harris C. Holder D. King 4-2 (44-21) ()
Ht 12 A. Ellis K. Newman J. Bates J. Sarjeant 5-1 (49-22) (61.57)
Ht 13 C. Harris H. Andersen C. Holder K. Kasprzak 3-3 (52-25) (60.88)
Ht 14 D. Watt K. Buczkowski J. Bates D. King 5-1 (57-26) (61.4)
Ht 15 H. Andersen C. Harris J. Garrity B. Kurtz 3-3 (60-29) ()

Referee Ronnie Allan
Gates:  Coventry win toss and take gates 1&3; Poole on 1&3 in heat 15