HANS Andersen almost made it a fairytale return to Poole Castle Cover Pirates as they went down to an eventful Elite League 49-42 defeat to Coventry.

The 26-year-old ex-Pirate - who has become something of an ogre to the Wimborne Road faithful in recent times - so nearly became the Prince Charming of Poole after turning in a terrific guest performance for the stricken Jason Crump.

But the Dane's 16-point haul from six rides shone like magic coins in the Pirates total as his team-mates found themselves unable to match his searing pace round the Brandon track.

Only Danish counterpart Bjarne Pedersen, who grabbed 10 points from his five outings, joined him in double figures as the rest of the Pirates line-up suffered differing fortunes.

Sadly, the man with the thin end of the wedge once again was the luckless Jason Doyle, who found himself in the dirt more often than a naughty schoolboy.

He might have known it was not going to be his night long before the track doctor ultimately put him out of his misery.

Having got stuck in traffic on his way to the meeting, Doyle's crash helmet was then confiscated by officials, before suffering three crashes - the last of which ended his evening with a badly bruised hip.

Boss Neil Middleditch explained: "Jason didn't have a lot of luck really.

"He got stuck in traffic and only arrived at 6.40pm, then had his helmet confiscated because it had a crack in it and had to borrow one of Bjarne's.

"Then he didn't have too much luck in his races - it was a bad day for Jason unfortunately.

"I think he'll wake up a sore boy in the morning.

"He's got a bruised hip, but he actually wanted to race again after that, but there was no way we were going to let him."

In an eventful heat two, the Australian was initially bumped into the air fence by Martin Smolinski on the first run, but Doyle bravely led the re-run and looked set to build on the perfect 5-1 start from Andersen and Troy Batchelor in heat one.

But Billy Janniro had other ideas, edged past Doyle late in the race with the Pirate parting company with his bike once again as he attempted to fight back.

If he thought heat two was his nadir, Doyle found himself in the familiar surroundings of an ambulance after another horribly awkward crash in heat eight.

Smolinski was again involved - although blameless - as he and team-mate Janniro were the sandwich, while Doyle was cast as the tuna and mayo, suffering a painful crunch to his left side.

Middleditch is still hopeful that Doyle will have recovered in time for tomorrow night's home clash with Belle Vue, but believes that the broken ankle the Aussie sustained over Easter is still a factor.

Middleditch said: "Jason's still not 100 per cent race fit after the injury because we've had so many meetings rained off.

"Perhaps he's missing a bit of his usual strength on his bike and that may have played a part."

Doyle was not the only man to suffer on an unpredictable Coventry track as home star Ollie Allen injured a shoulder, while team-mate Rory Schlein also saw his bike rear up out of nowhere to plough into Craig Boyce.

Although Andersen was undoubtedly the star for Pirates, the Bees stuck to their task to chip away at Poole's early lead.

Scott Nicholls produced a fearless piece of overtaking in heat 10 as he somehow snuck through a gap between Pedersen and the fence when there seemed no possible way through.

But Chris Bomber Harris showed his skill and bravery as he tore past a previously invincible Andersen in heat 13 and effectively sealed victory for his team.

Middleditch concluded: "We got off to a very good start, but then a few things went against us.

"Eddie (Kennett) didn't have a great night with bike trouble, but came back to win his last race and Jason had his problems.

"But overall, I'm not too disheartened to lose by seven points.

"It could have been a lot worse."