PIRATES boss Neil Middleditch hopes Poole’s sting in the tail can punish their SGB Premiership rivals after Nicolai Klindt’s heroics in their 47-43 win at Leicester tonight.

The Danish racer dropped down to number seven for the meeting and racked up a sensational 17 paid 18 points, winning heat 15 to seal Pirates a priceless three points on the road.

Having endured a patchy start to 2018 at Wimborne Road, away victories look set to be crucial if Poole are to finish in the top four and book a play-off place.

After a red-hot run for Kacper Woryna at reserve, Klindt took his chance to shine after swapping places with the Pole, who has moved to number three.

And whoever lines up in the reserve berths, Middleditch believes Pirates’ strength in depth could give them the edge in the play-off run-in.

He said: “When we all score, we are a very dangerous team.

“I’ve said it time and time again – reserves will win you meetings. It doesn’t really matter at this moment in time who goes down to reserve; we’re going to have a trump card in the lower order, which can be vital.”

Middleditch was elated with Klindt’s form as he produced a gating masterclass on his old home track.

He said: “Nicolai was absolutely outstanding at reserve. He was definitely the trump card.

“He said he didn’t like the gates – they were too slick. Well, if he didn’t like them, I’d hate to think what he’d be like when he did!

"He had one ride where he ran a last off gate four, which was a bit of a graveyard, but apart from that, it was a faultless display.”

Pirates took the victory despite some of their stars failing to hit top form, with Linus Sundstrom struggling to four paid five and Woryna managing only one paid two.

But Middleditch insisted: “Everyone played their part. Perhaps some of the boys were a bit disappointed by their point-scoring, but every point is vital in winning a match. Linus was very disappointed with his form. He just can’t seem to get the consistency going.

“He’s obviously very down, but I just told him to put this meeting behind him and move forward. We know he’s a capable rider.

“Linus just couldn’t buy a start and that’s the biggest problem with him at the moment as far as I am concerned.”

This was Pirates’ first away win of the season and the first time they had registered back-to-back victories. And after recording a handy four consolation points for losing by six or fewer on their travels, Middleditch was glad to finally snatch victory.

He said: “We have been nicking points away from home here and there. But what we really needed was an away win to follow on from the win against Belle Vue on Wednesday.

“This was a great result for the boys. I am chuffed to bits.”

Pirates are next in action when they travel to King’s Lynn to face the Stars on Monday, July 23.

RIDER SCORES

LEICESTER 43: 1 Kenneth Bjerre (3-2*-2*-F-1) 8+2, 2 Ricky Wells (2*-3-1-3) 9+1, 3 Charles Wright (2*-0-2-3) 7+1, 4 Krystian Pieszczek (3-1-0-X) 4, 5 Hans Andersen (2-3-3-3-0) 11, 6 James Sarjeant (1-F-0-2*-1) 4+1, 7 Todd Kurtz (R-0-0) 0.

POOLE 47: 1 Brady Kurtz (0-3-2-2-2*) 9+1, 2 Josh Grajczonek (1-2*-3-1*) 7+2, 3 Kacper Woryna (0-1*-0) 1+1, 4 Richie Worrall (1-2-1-2*) 6+1, 5 Linus Sundstrom (1-1-1-1*) 4+1, 6 Frederik Jakobsen (2*-0-1) 3+1, 7 Nicolai Klindt (3-3-2*-3-0-3-3) 17+1.

HEAT DETAILS

Ht 1: Bjerre, Wells, Grajczonek, B Kurtz, (5-1).

Ht 2: Klindt, Jakobsen, Sarjeant. T Kurtz, (6-6).

Ht 3: Pieszczek, Wright, Worrall, Woryna, (11-7).

Ht 4: Klindt, Andersen, Sundstrom, T Kurtz, (13-11).

Ht 5: B Kurtz, Grajczonek, Pieszczek, Wright, (14-16).

Ht 6: Wells, Bjerre, Sundstrom, Jakobsen, (19-17).

Ht 7: Andersen, Worrall, Woryna. Sarjeant (fell), (22-20).

Ht 8: Grajczonek, Klindt, Wells, T Kurtz, (23-25).

Ht 9: Klindt, Wright, Sundstrom, Pieszczek, (25-29).

Ht 10: Wells, Bjerre, Worrall, Woryna, (30-30).

Ht 11: Andersen, B Kurtz, Grajczonek, Sarjeant, (33-33).

Ht 12: Wright, Sarjeant, Jakobsen, Klindt, (38-34).

Ht 13: Andersen, B Kurtz, Sundstrom, Bjerre, (41-37).

Ht 14: (awarded) Klindt, Worrall, Sarjeant, Pieszczek (f.exc), (42-42).

Ht 15: Klindt, B Kurtz, Bjerre, Andersen, (43-47).

STAR RIDER: NICOLAI KLINDT

PIRATES again had plenty in reserve and Nicolai Klindt thrived after taking the drop down to number seven, scoring a sensational 17 paid 18 points.

Lining up on the track where he captained the Lions through their financial troubles of 2016, the Workington doubling-up man proved he clearly had not forgotten the fastest way around Beaumont Park.

Once rated as one of Denmark’s hottest prospects before his career was slowed by injury, Klindt has this kind of scoring in his kit bag.

And if he brings this scoring to Wimborne Road, he could play a very key role in powering Pirates towards the SGB Premiership play-offs.