POOLE Pirates star Shamek Pawlicki could be set for a spell on the sidelines having suffered a suspected broken collarbone in tonight’s 45-45 draw at Leicester.

The Pole got caught behind Lions number one Jason Doyle in heat five and hit the air fence on lap three in his efforts to make up ground from the back.

Having received attention on the track, Pawlicki gingerly made his own way back to the pits but was soon withdrawn from action and was sent to a nearby hospital to get his injuries checked out.

Pirates team manager Neil Middleditch told the Daily Echo: “Shamek was in a lot of pain and having had similar injuries in the past he felt that he might have broken his collarbone.

“It is potentially a real setback for us but we’re going to have to wait and see what emerges from his medical assessments overnight.”

It was one of five falls for Poole riders which saw guest reserve Matt Williamson fail to finish a race while captain Darcy Ward suffered an off-colour evening.

Pirates got off to a sticky start with Doyle taking the first heat before Williamson’s first fall became the template for his evening.

Maciej Janowski’s win in heat three reduced the arrears but a second slip from Williamson followed by Pawlicki’s collision saw Leicester open up a six-point lead after five races.

In-form Kyle Newman was backed up by guest Craig Cook as Poole plundered a maximum in heat seven, the latter winning the next race to level the meeting.

Williamson wobbled for a third time in heat nine but Newman’s second success retained parity.

Doyle's third win edged Lions ahead once more as Josh Grajczonek’s mistake allowed Simon Stead to steal third.

But Cook saved the day with a second chequered flag as Ward uncharacteristically came last following a poor start, and by heat 13 it was all square again as Janowski won with Ward in third.

Newman burst through the tapes and was sent back 15 metres in heat 14 but battled back to overtake Bates who then fell with leader Cook awarded another victory to put Pirates in front for the first time.

Poole were on a match-winning 3-3 in the final heat but Ward was disqualified for his fall on lap two. The tenacious Janowski led Doyle all the way in the re-run but was unable to hold on at the last as Middleditch's men were cruelly denied three points.

Middleditch added: “It was one of those meetings where it almost looked like we were trying to lose.

“There were some silly mistakes and perhaps we should have won but the track was tricky and two points was not terrible return from what proved to be a difficult evening.

“It was a bit of a nightmare for Darcy (Ward), he probably tried a bit too hard at times but he was as determined as ever. In the end, we were not quite good enough as a team to nick the win.”

Leicester 45

1 Jason Doyle (3-2-3-3-2-3) 16
2 Simon Stead (1-2*-1-1-3) 8+1
3 Mads Korneliussen (0-3-2-2-1) 8
4 Pontus Aspgren (guest) (2-0-0-1*-2) 5+1
5 R/R for Krzysztof Buczkowski
6 Max Clegg (1-1*-1*) 3+2
7 Josh Bates (3-fx-2-0-f) 5

Poole 45

1 Darcy Ward (2-2-0-1-fx) 5
2 Josh Grajczonek (0-3-1-0-1*) 5+1
3 Shamek Pawlicki (1-f) 1
4 Craig Cook (guest) (1-2*-3-3-3) 12+1
5 Maciej Janowski (3-1*-2-3-2) 11+1
6 Kyle Newman (2-3-3-2-1) 11
7 Matt Williamson (guest) (fx-fx-fx) 0

League points: Leicester Lions 1 Poole Pirates 2.

Ht 1: Doyle, Ward, Stead, Grajczonek, 61.59 (4-2)

Ht 2: (re-run) Bates, Newman, Clegg, Williamson (fell, excluded) 63.66 (8-4)

Ht 3: Janowski, Doyle, Pawlicki, Korneliussen 62.03 (10-8)

Ht 4: (re-run) Grajczonek, Aspgren, Clegg, Williamson (fell, excluded), 62.84 (13-11)

Ht 5: Doyle, Stead, Cook, Pawlicki (fell), awarded (18-12)

Ht 6: (re-run) Korneliussen, Ward, Janowski, Aspgren, 62.06 (21-15)

Ht 7: (re-run) Newman, Cook, Stead, Bates (fell, excluded), 63.15 (22-20)

Ht 8: Cook, Korneliussen, Grajczonek, Aspgren, 61.16 (24-24)

Ht 9: (re-run) Newman, Bates, Clegg, Williamson (fell, excluded), 64.03 (27-27)

Ht 10: Doyle, Janowski, Stead, Grajczonek, 62.47 (31-29)

Ht 11: Cook, Korneliussen, Aspgren, Ward, 61.97 (34-32)

Ht 12: Stead, Newman, Grajczonek, Bates, 62.38 (37-35)

Ht 13: Janowski, Doyle, Ward, Korneliussen, 62.00 (39-39)

Ht 14: (re-run) Cook, Aspgren, Newman (tapes, 15m), Bates (fell), awarded (41-43)

Ht 15: (re-run) Doyle, Janowski, Korneliussen, Ward (fell, excluded), 62.56 (45-45)