Pirates: Middlo relieved to bag Brummies draw (From Bournemouth Echo)

Pirates: Middlo relieved to bag Brummies draw

7:00am Friday 22nd June 2012 in Sport By Ian Wadley

RELIEVED Neil Middleditch joked that Pirates’ meetings should come with a health warning following their latest “gargantuan effort”.

A depleted Poole side recovered from a 30-18 deficit to claim a last-gasp 46-46 home draw with Birmingham on Wednesday night.

It was the second week in a row that the reigning champions had produced heat-15 heroics to gain a positive result against the odds.

The tie against the Brummies came despite the absence of injured Darcy Ward and recently departed Adrian Miedzinski.

After the first half of the meeting, Middleditch admitted he “feared the worst”.

He told the Daily Echo: “Looking down the Birmingham team-sheet, they had strength throughout.

“With no disrespect to any of the Poole boys, we weren’t a full-strength team.

“To come back from 30-18 down after eight heats was an absolutely gargantuan effort.”

Maximum man Davey Watt starred as a guest and led home Chris Holder in a final-heat 5-1 to extend Poole’s unbeaten run, although their 100 per cent record came to an end.

Discussing the dramatic conclusion, which came just a week after similar fireworks against King’s Lynn, Middleditch added: “It is not good for my heart!

“Fair play to Davey Watt, he stepped in and did an absolutely fantastic job as a guest.

“He is always part of the family down here as he has been here and lived here for so many years.

“Again in heat 15, what a ride it was from Chris. It was absolutely fantastic.

“To let us get back into that, if I was in the visiting team I would have been absolutely gutted.

“They battled hard and Birmingham are a good team. They should have won, though.”