POOLE Pirates’ rollercoaster season took another dramatic turn tonight when Vaclav Milik withdrew from the 56-35 win over Eastbourne with a hand problem.

The Czech ace suffered the injury in a frightening heat six crash which sullied Pirates’ return to the top of the Elite League standings.

With Darcy Ward suspended and Shamek Pawlicki still recovering from a broken collarbone, this latest setback will give team boss Neil Middleditch plenty of cause for concern ahead of the play-offs, which start later this month.

Milik is due to have his hand assessed in his homeland tomorrow and Middleditch is hoping that the Wimborne Road side will receive a dose of good fortune to counteract a sea of recent bad luck.

He told the Daily Echo: “Vaclav is very sore on his left hand and little finger and we’re not sure whether he’s broken anything or not.

“After it was iced up he said it felt better but he will get it X-rayed on Thursday and then we’ll know more.

“It looked a very awkward crash and an awkward fall and I feared it would be a lot worse.

“We’ve had the Darcy thing and the Shamek thing and now this. I’m running out of riders.”

Seven of the 13 riders on show tonight were guests due to the absence-afflicted nature of both teams.

In addition to Ward and Pawlicki, Pirates were missing doubling-up riders Josh Grajczonek and Benji Compton due to other racing commitments.

In the quartet’s place were Lakeside duo Lewis Bridger and Davey Watt, Rye House number one Edward Kennett and Stoke’s Ben Hopwood, who was dropped by Poole in July.

The injury-hit visitors operated rider replacement for Cameron Woodward and brought in Lasse Bjerre, Lewis Kerr and former Pirate Brendan Johnson in place of Mikkel Michelsen, Dan Halsey and Lewis Blackbird.

Bridger cost Pirates a 4-2 in the opening heat when he ran wide and knocked Bjarne Pedersen off his machine.

The second outing was also shared and then stand-in home captain Maciej Janowski produced a moment of class to overhaul Joonas Kylmakorpi and level the score at 9-9.

A two-tier race saw a memorable last-lap charge from Hopwood at Johnson’s expense, while Watt was relatively untroubled out front.

The lead became six points following a straightforward 5-1 courtesy of Bridger and Janowski but matters then took a worrying turn as Milik suffered a heavy fall.

The Czech was vying with Bjerre when he hit the deck hard and the bike followed him into the air fence. On the re-run, Watt flew out of the gate and ensured a shared heat.

Kylmakorpi led a low-key heat seven and a 3-3 result ensured that Pirates took a 24-18 advantage into the second track grading.

After being re-examined by a doctor, Milik withdrew from the meeting and his replacement in heat eight, Kennett, clung on for second in a 5-1 maximum headed by the rapid Watt.

The home drive continued in heat nine thanks to a Newman-Hopwood 4-2 but the Eagles reduced the deficit to nine points with a 5-2 in heat 10.

Behind Bjerre and Kennett, tactical man Timo Lahti had to work wonders to keep out Bridger with all four riders involved in a blanket finish.

Pedersen was untouchable in heat 11 but Eastbourne could not grab the heat advantage they were desperately in need of.

Despite a close challenge from Lahti, Newman held on for an impressive victory in heat 12 as he claimed his second win in succession.

Janowski and Bridger seized control in a breakneck heat 13 that owed much to the contributions of Pedersen and Bjerre, before Newman breezed through the penultimate race.

While they could not repeat their heat 13 maximum, Janowski and Bridger were again a force to be reckoning with in the final showdown as they delivered a fourth straight heat advantage.

Pirates 56: 1 Lewis Bridger, guest (x-3-0-2*-1) 6+1, 2 Edward Kennett, guest (3-2-2*-2-1) 10+1, 3 Vaclav Milik (1-fx) 1, 4 Davey Watt, guest (3-3-3-2-2*) 13+1, 5 Maciej Janowski (3-2*-1*-3-3) 12+2, 6 Ben Hopwood, guest (r-1-1) 2, 7 Kyle Newman (2-1*-3-3-3) 12+1.

Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Eagles 35: 1 Bjarne Pedersen (1*-2-0-3-1-2) 9+1, 2 Timo Lahti (2-2-1-2^-2-0-0) 9, 3 Cameron Woodward r/r, 4 Joonas Kylmakorpi (2-1-3-0-1) 7, 5 Lasse Bjerre, guest (0-0-1*-3-0) 4+1, 6 Lewis Kerr, guest (3-0-2-0-0) 5, 7 Brendan Johnson, guest (1-0-0) 1. Team manager: Trevor Geer.

HEAT DETAILS

Ht 1: Kennett, Lahti, Pedersen, Bridger (dsq), awarded (3-3)

Ht 2: Kerr, Newman, Johnson, Hopwood (retired), 61.72 (5-7)

Ht 3: Janowski, Kylmakorpi, Milik, Bjerre, 60.84 (9-9)

Ht 4: Watt, Lahti, Hopwood, Johnson, 61.15 (13-11)

Ht 5: Bridger, Janowski, Kylamakorpi, Bjerre, 60.84 (18-12)

Ht 6 (re-run): Watt, Pedersen, Bjerre, Milik (fell/dsq), 60.94 (21-15)

Ht 7: Kylmakorpi, Kennett, Newman, Kerr, 60.91 (24-18)

Ht 8: Watt, Kennett, Lahti, Pedersen, 61.78 (29-19)

Ht 9: Newman, Kerr, Hopwood, Johnson, 61.91 (33-21)

Ht 10: Bjerre, Kennett, Lahti (tac), Bridger, 62.03 (35-26)

Ht 11: Pedersen, Watt, Janowski, Kylmakorpi, 61.00 (38-29)

Ht 12: Newman, Lahti, Kennett, Kerr, 61.68 (42-31)

Ht 13: Janowski, Bridger, Pedersen, Bjerre, 60.68 (47-32)

Ht 14: Newman, Watt, Kylmakorpi, Kerr, 62.10 (52-33)

Ht 15: Janowski, Pedersen, Bridger, Lahti, 61.31 (56-35)

Tonight’s other Elite League result: Belle Vue 48 Swindon Robins 44.

STAR RIDER: DAVEY WATT

GUEST Davey Watt has taken plenty of stick for his performances in Lakeside kevlars this season, but he was in vintage form around Wimborne Road tonight.

The Aussie was consistently fast out of the gate and looked comfortable passing his rivals when he had to.

Watt’s best moment came when he battled it out with Joonas Kylmakorpi and Lewis Kerr in heat 14, helping the hosts to a 5-1.

Special mentions go to reserve Kyle Newman and Maciej Janowski, who were excellent yet again.