PIRATES legend Craig Boyce has seen and done pretty much everything at Wimborne Road in his time.

But the last week has been a new one, even on him.

The birth of his first child, Molly, eight days ago has put a new slant on things when it comes to speedway.

"It's been a tough week," said Boyce, who also celebrated his 39th birthday on Wednesday.

"My fiance, Rebecca, was in labour during the meeting against Peterborough last Wednesday.

"The baby was born on Thursday and then the baby came home just before we went to Oxford on Monday."

Boyce battled on through the two meetings, despite the obvious distractions.

But as Poole's all-time leading points scorer, he struggled to hit the high standards he sets for himself, much to his frustration.

"It hacked me off and I was having a few problems with the bike too," he said.

"I did struggle but it doesn't help when you throw yourself off the bike twice!"

The Sydneysider only managed a couple of points in the meetings with Peterborough and Oxford, contributing to Pirates' downfall in both.

But he dismisses the idea that the blip is any more than temporary.

He said: "I've been through this in my career before you just get back on your bike and try again the next week. I'm not happy with it at all but everyone goes through a bad run and you've just got to get on with it."

As for Pirates' play-off bid, Boyce believes there is still plenty of racing to be done before the final standings are decided.

He said: "We'll keep battling away with the play-offs but it's been a tough year all over.

"It's been an uphill battle with Krzysztof (Kasprzak) being out with his injuries and other guys not performing.

"Then I've not performed in the last couple of home meetings, but there still a long way to go yet."