Preview: Poole v Swindon double header

Promoter Danny Ford believes a battle of the Australians for the Pirates’ No1 race jacket can be the catalyst for a successful SGB Premiership title defence.

Ford watched his class of 2019 secure a hard-earned point on the road at Peterborough on Monday to kick off their league campaign, with the Premiership Shield already in the trophy cabinet following a two-legged victory over King’s Lynn.

And while attention now turns to the Supporters’ Cup, with back-to-back meetings against Swindon home and away on Thursday and Friday, Ford has been delighted with the Pirates’ start to the season.

He said: “After last year’s poor start, everyone at the club was keen to hit the ground running this time – and I think we’ve done that.

“The performance at King’s Lynn in the shield was excellent and although we narrowly lost the home leg, it’s all about doing enough over the two meetings and we did.

“Peterborough is never an easy place to go and when they have a track expert like Hans Andersen up there, it’s even harder, so a point was a good result.”

With a restful winter in Australia behind him, Brady Kurtz has started the new campaign in fine form, bagging 11 and 7+1 scores against the Stars in the Premiership Shield and contributing 8 against the Panthers on Monday.

And with Jack Holder putting some early season gremlins behind him with paid 12 at the East of England Arena, Ford believes the pair’s personal battle for the No1 jacket will help fuel his side’s bid to retain the SGB Premiership title.

He added: “It’s great to see both Jack and Brady back in Pirates colours and I believe they will help drive each other forward this season.

“Even though Brady perhaps struggled with being the No1 rider last season at times, he’s come back after the winter with real confidence and I think he will be pushing Jack for that race jacket.

“Jack won’t want to give it up, though, and I really think that internal battle will help ensure we are in the mix again at the end of the season.”

Swindon started their own campaign with a narrow 46-44 defeat to Wolverhampton at Monmore Green on Monday, with former Pirates Troy Batchelor (14) and Jason Doyle (9+2) looking in good form.

The Pirates travel to the Abbey Stadium on Thursday (7.30pm) in the newly-created Supporters’ Cup before the Robins visit Wimborne Road on Friday (11.30am) in the same competition.

The Supporters’ Cup sees two groups of teams facing each other home and away, with the top two from each group progressing to a two-legged final.

Supporters will be able to vote, via the Pirates’ Twitter feed, for the riders they wish to see race in heat 14 of each cup meeting, choosing from four nominated riders put forward by team manager Neil Middleditch.

Voting will be open for 15 minutes after heat 10, with the riders topping the poll announced after heat 13.

Robins: Jason Doyle, Adam Ellis, Tobiasz Musielak, Dawid Lampart, Troy Batchelor, Zach Wajtknecht, James Shanes.

Pirates: Jack Holder, Josh Grajczonek, Nicolai Klindt, Richie Worrall, Brady Kurtz, Nico Covatti, Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen.