WOLVERHAMPTON 36 POOLE 59

In the words of club owner Matt Ford, the Coastal Aluminium Pirates delivered an "unbelievable performace and one of the finest away ones in his time in charge at Poole" to move second in the Elite league table following a 59-36 drubbing of Wolverhampton.

The Pirates could well have hit the sixty mark had it not been for a last gasp snatch on the line by Tai Woffinden to deny Przemyslaw Pawlicki a point in heat 15. But that only made some amends for Woffinden's denial of a second place in the opening heat when he appeared to have hassled Josh Grajczonek enough over four laps of intense chasing only for the Aussie to be granted the paid win to get Poole off to the best possible start.

Kyle Newman's lightning start in heat 2 was pulled back but he was still able to gain a clear win in the restart to protect that early advantage. More solid gating by the Pirates ensued in heat 3 but Przemyslaw Pawlicki was a little untidy and his brother was able to move into second but couldn't do enough to get by Janowski. All that in a heat when the Wolves' fans were left disappointed if they were hoping to see a vintage ride from the recalled Peter Karlsson.

Another good get-away by Grajczonek in heat 4 was called back, this time due to Jacobs falling at the first turn and being disqualified. Lasse Bjerre made the better start in the re-run but dramatically shed a chain and fell right in front of the pursuing Grajczonek to force a third attempt but with no home representative.

Wolves' waved the black and white and Piotr Pawlicki donned it. Partnered with Woffinden it looked threatening for the Pirates but after backstraight contact between Woffinden and Shamek Pawlicki the world champion pulled up aggrieved that the race was allowed to continue. Poole, through Ward and Janowski stretched the lead to 12 points and again Wolverhampton tried their hand with the tactical, this time through Thorssell.

Once again it produced a win but Newman and Milik, despite not having the best of understandings between themselves, were too strong for Perry and Poole held a 9 point lead with all options deployed by the home side and still 8 heats remaining.

Peter Karlsson snatched a point from Grajczonek on the line of heat 8, Shamek Pawlicki well denying Bjerre any chance of becoming a third race winner for the home side and then Newman won the second draft race to maintain the 9 point advantage.

An exciting heat 10 had Woffinden probing at the Polish pair of Janowski and Pawlicki, the Wolves' skipper just being able to break the team riding in time. The widening gap was  further extended in heat 11 wihen Piotr Pawlicki made a schoolboy error that allowed Milik in for the victory and then the crushing blow was delivered with Newman and Grajczonek cruising to a 5-1 in heat 12 to go 17 points clear.

Heat 13 was a speedway epic with Woffinden and Piotr Pawlicki looking early doors to recover that 5-1 but Ward had other ideas and second guessed the Wolves' tactics, filled a gap that appeared to take up the running himself and create an opening in turn for Janowski to exploit for third place and yet another Poole heat gain.

Newman completed a splendid performance (his only dropped point coming to Thorssell's tactical ride) and with Milik put the Pirates in touching distance of the 60 point barrier. Ward and Pawlicki looked set to go reach that mark but Woffinden's determination saved the humiliation.

Wolverhampton 36
T. Woffinden 1,0,2,0,1'=4+1
J. Thorsell 0,6,0,1=7
P. Karlsson 0,1,1',0=2+1
L. Bjerre FDq,0,2,1=3
Pi. Pawlicki 2,6,2,2,2=14
J. Jacobs 2,FDq,1',0=3+1
T. Perry 1',0,2,R=3+1

Poole 59
D. Ward 3,3,1,3,3=13
J. Grajczonek 2',3,0,3=8+1
Pr. Pawlicki 1,2,3,3,0=9
V. Milik 1',1',3,2'=7+3
M. Janowski 3,2',1,1=7+1
K. Newman 3,2,3,2',3=13+1
B. Johnson 0,2',0=2+1

Ht 1 D. Ward J. Grajczonek T. Woffinden J. Thorsell 1-5 (1-5) (54.45)
Ht 2 K. Newman J. Jacobs T. Perry B. Johnson 3-3 (4-8) (55.77)
Ht 3 M. Janowski Pi. Pawlicki Pr. Pawlicki P. Karlsson 2-4 (6-12) (54.17)
Ht 4 J. Grajczonek B. Johnson L. Bjerre (Fell d/q) J. Jacobs (Fell d/q) 0-5 (6-17) (55.27)
Ht 5 Pi. Pawlicki Pr. Pawlicki V. Milik T. Woffinden 6-3 (12-20) (54.39)
Ht 6 D. Ward M. Janowski P. Karlsson L. Bjerre 1-5 (13-25) (53.98)
Ht 7 J. Thorsell K. Newman V. Milik T. Perry 6-3 (19-28) (55.44)
Ht 8 Pr. Pawlicki L. Bjerre P. Karlsson J. Grajczonek 3-3 (22-31) (54.3)
Ht 9 K. Newman T. Perry J. Jacobs B. Johnson 3-3 (25-34) (56.3)
Ht 10 Pr. Pawlicki T. Woffinden M. Janowski J. Thorsell 2-4 (27-38) (55.19)
Ht 11 V. Milik Pi. Pawlicki D. Ward P. Karlsson 2-4 (29-42) (54.97)
Ht 12 J. Grajczonek K. Newman J. Thorsell J. Jacobs 1-5 (30-47) (55.99)
Ht 13 D. Ward Pi. Pawlicki M. Janowski T. Woffinden 2-4 (32-51) (55.66)
Ht 14 K. Newman V. Milik L. Bjerre T. Perry (Rtd) 1-5 (33-56) (57.42)
Ht 15 D. Ward Pi. Pawlicki T. Woffinden Pr. Pawlicki 3-3 (36-59) (55.26)

Referee Chris Durno
Gates Poole win toss & take gates 1&3. Wolverhampton took 1&3 in heat 15
Wolverhampton 0 league points - Poole 4 league points