BATTERED, bruised and beset by absences, Poole Pirates are in another Elite League play-off final.

Tonight there was no Darcy Ward, no Josh Grajczonek, no Vaclav Milik and no Benji Compton. The three remaining riders had, at best, only recently recovered from one injury or another.

Such bad luck would have plunged a dagger through the heart of most teams, but this juggernaut kept on going. 

On the back of four straight play-off final appearances, another will arrive tomorrow night when Gary Havelock’s Coventry – conquerors of Swindon – provide the opposition.

A repeat of the 2010 final, the two-legged showdown will present one last test for a team that arrived at the knockout stages in less than mint condition.

Despite a stern examination from King’s Lynn, the defending champions ground out a 92-87 aggregate win courtesy of a 47-43 victory in awful conditions at Wimborne Road this evening.

Tomorrow night, we will begin to find out how much Neil Middleditch’s men have left in the tank. For now, time to savour the 15 heats that got them there.

Minus the suspended Ward, the unavailable Milik and injured duo Grajczonek and Compton, Poole drafted in Troy Batchelor, Edward Kennett, Danny King and Brendan Johnson for the fourth attempt at the weather-hit second leg.

King’s Lynn, affected by considerable injury problems, controversially tracked Coventry pair Chris Harris and Jason Garrity in the absence of Niels-Kristian Iversen and Lewis Kerr, while Stuart Robson replaced the absent Nicklas Porsing. 

Poole made a flying start and Lynn were not able to secure a heat advantage until heat five. Kennett, Kyle Newman, Shamek Pawlicki and King all took the chequered flag as the hosts opened up a 59-54 aggregate lead.

Matters then took a dramatic turn as rain began to fall and Rory Schlein spearheaded a 4-2 for the Stars.
The meeting was on a knife edge as riders guided their machines round for successive 3-3s in worsening conditions.

Garrity and Simon Lambert sent home supporters’ nerves jangling with a 4-2 that reduced the Poole advantage to a single point.

However, Kennett produced a masterful charge to go from last to first on bend two and lead in Batchelor for a crucial heat advantage.

Referee Christina Turnbull rejected Poole promoter Matt Ford’s calls to abandon the meeting and the teams soldiered on despite the slippery track.

Janowski and Newman, Pirates’ star performers this year, both added wins to their personal tallies before the former triumphed in heat 13.

Newman and King did enough for a shared penultimate race which meant that Poole only needed a point in the final outing.

Schlein’s retirement made it a simple task for Janowski and Pawlicki and they cruised in behind Harris to settle the semi-final result.

Pirates 47 (92): 1 Troy Batchelor, guest (1-1*-1-1) 4+1, 2 Edward Kennett, guest (3-2-3-0) 8, 3 Shamek Pawlicki (3-0-3-0-1*) 7+1, 4 Danny King, guest (3-2-0-1*) 6+1, 5 Maciej Janowski (0-2-3-3-2) 10, 6 Brendan Johnson, guest (1-0-f) 1, 7 Kyle Newman (3-1*-2-3-2) 11+1. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Stars 43 (87): 1 Kenneth Bjerre (2-1-2-2) 7, 2 Robert Lambert (0-2-2-1*) 5+1, 3 Chris Harris, guest (2-3-1*-2-3) 11+1, 4 Stuart Robson, guest (0-0-3) 3, 5 Rory Schlein (1*-3-r-0-r) 4+1, 6 Jason Garrity, guest (2-3-3-1*-2-0) 11+1, 7 Simon Lambert (0-1*-1) 2+1. Team manager: Rob Lyon.

Ht 1: Kennett, Bjerre, Batchelor, R Lambert, 60.22 (49-46)

Ht 2: Newman, Garrity, Johnson, S Lambert, 60.93 (53-48)

Ht 3: Pawlicki, Harris, Schlein, Janowski, 60.25 (56-51)

Ht 4: King, R Lambert, S Lambert, Johnson, 60.59 (59-54)

Ht 5: Harris, Janowski, Batchelor, Robson, 60.32 (62-57)

Ht 6: Schlein, King, Bjerre, Pawlicki, 60.75 (64-61)

Ht 7: Garrity, Kennett, Newman, Robson, 62.47 (67-64)

Ht 8: Pawlicki, R Lambert, Harris, King, 62.85 (70-67)

Ht 9: Garrity, Newman, S Lambert, Johnson (fell), 65.06 (72-71)

Ht 10: Kennett, Harris, Batchelor, Schlein (retired), 65.42 (76-73)

Ht 11: Janowski, Bjerre, Garrity, Pawlicki, 66.19 (79-76)

Ht 12: Newman, R Lambert, Garrity, Kennett, 66.68 (82-79)

Ht 13: Janowski, Bjerre, Batchelor, Schlein, 65.35 (86-81)

Ht 14: Robson, Newman, King, Garrity, 66.50 (89-84)

Ht 15: Harris, Janowski, Pawlicki, Schlein, 67.06 (92-87).

ECHO STAR RIDER: Kyle Newman

No one had a perfect night, which was understandable given the conditions, but Kyle Newman was right up there with the best of them.

The home town favourite carded 11 paid 12 and was a crucial contributor to a narrow triumph, not for the first time in 2014.

A popular figure among the Wimborne Road faithful, Newman showed plenty of bottle to finish second in a hugely-important penultimate heat, and also recorded two race wins in his five rides.

Pirates will need the youngster to be at his best at Coventry tomorrow night.