Lakeside wary of a Krzys backlash (From Bournemouth Echo)

Lakeside wary of a Krzys backlash

7:00am Friday 30th May 2008

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LAKESIDE boss Jon Cook believes Krzysztof Kasprzak will "have a point to prove" when he leads Pirates at Arena-Essex Raceway tonight (8pm).

The Pole makes the final appearance of his one-month stay with Poole Castle Cover as a temporary replacement for Bjarne Pedersen.

So Special K, who spent last year on loan with Hammers, has two reasons for trying to go out with a bang.

Cook, who went with Andreas Jonsson and Adam Shields as his top two this term, said: "Krzysztof will have a point to prove after riding for us last season.

"Kasprzak is a box of tricks. You just don't know what you are going to get from him.

"We didn't know what we were going to get from one meeting to the next. He was very consistent when he started with us, but then he lost his consistency later on in the season.

"You don't know what you will get with Krzys, that's for sure."

Cook, whose side are serious Elite League title contenders alongside Pirates, added: "I think Krzys was disappointed we didn't retain him this season.

"But we have proved to be quite right in the rider choices we made.

"Krzys was extremely unreliable in the second half of the season and we certainly wouldn't have started with him this term, what with the added situation that he was in the Grand Prix which would have taken his focus away from his league racing at times.

"On his day, he is one of the best riders I have dealt with, but on his off-day he was one of the worst.

"However, there is something charming about him, a charm that most of the other Poles don't possess.

"There is something special about him, although I can't put my finger on it, and despite the hassle we had with him, we would still give him another chance here."

Kasprzak went through the card twice for Lakeside at home in the league last season and finished the term with a CMA of 8.98.

He should be a main player tonight as Pirates try to leapfrog table-topping Ipswich by clinching their fourth away victory this year.

Spelling out Cook's view that he can be inconsistent, Special K's form in his six completed meetings for Poole has been hot and cold.

Scores of 10, 10+1 and eight were followed by 5+1 and 5 before he plundered 16+1 at Swindon in a thumping 51-39 victory in Pirates' last meeting.

The Dorset club, who beat Lakeside 54-38 at home on April 9, will hope to push Hammers all the way again tonight following their nail-biting 48-45 defeat in Thurrock on April 11.

Poole's Chris Holder could return from injury, but if he declares himself unfit they will use rider replacement.

Jonsson will ride for Lakeside following his horror crash in the Swedish GP on Saturday.

But Lubos Tomicek is unavailable because he rides in a GP qualifier in Croatia tomorrow, so they use rider replacement.

Lakeside: 1 Andreas Jonsson, 2 Leigh Lanham, 3 Adam Shields, 4 Rider replacement for Lubos Tomicek, 5 Jonas Davidsson, 6 Ricky Kling, 7 Joonas Kylmakorpi.

Pirates: 1 Krzysztof Kasprzak, 2 Freddie Eriksson, 3 Chris Holder or rider replacement, 4 Magnus Zettertstrom, 5 Davey Watt, 6 Adam Skornicki, 7 Daniel Davidsson.

• Chris Holder has been drawn in Grand Prix qualifying round four at Lonigo, Italy, on June 21 alongside ex-Pirate Troy Batchelor.

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