PIRATES 38 COVENTRY 29 EASTBOURNE 41

TOMMY Allen epitomised Pirates' determined late season will-to-win' when he rode with two suspected cracked ribs to help make sure they lifted the Craven Shield.

The 22-year-old Poole RIAS reserve, called up for the final because Jonas Davidsson and Jason Doyle were unavailable and Matthew Weathers was injured, might only have got one point.

But that was one point he really should not have got after he fell heavily on the second bend and was ploughed into by Coventry's Danny Warwick, who was left with nowhere else to go.

That frightening incident happened in heat one when the destiny of the Shield still hung very much in the balance, despite the under strength Bees turning up for the third leg without Billy Janniro, who claimed he had broken down en route.

So Allen patched himself up, despite hardly being able to walk, and bravely came out again for race six with Pirates only holding a slender four-point aggregate advantage over Coventry.

Allen, whose fighting never-say-die attitude to racing has always been warmly appreciated by the Wimborne Road faithful, said: "I had Bjarne Pedersen and Scott Nicholls inside me but I made a good start.

"Then I just hesitated for a second, Bjarne lifted a bit and that throw me off balance.

"It was my own fault, Danny had nowhere to go and clipped me.

"To be honest, I only went out in the next race to see if I could still ride because I was in agony as I think I've got a couple of cracked ribs. But I definitely wanted to ride."

"In the end, I had to withdraw from the meeting because I didn't want to put any of the other riders in danger, so we had to go into two heats with only one man.

"I'm just glad we were able to win the trophy because I have had a fantastic time at Poole, everyone has been great."

With Bjarne Pedersen winning both races that Allen missed, Pirates were almost always in control because Eastbourne, who won last night's leg, had gone into the meeting trailing by 12.

Krzysztof Kasprzak, beaten only by Nicki Pedersen, was good value for his 11 while Fredrik Lindgren, Craig Boyce and Grzegorz Walasek did enough to make sure Poole won overall.

Coventry team manager Peter Oakes confirmed Janniro had broken down on the motorway and told him he "was unable to hire another van to get to Dorset because he did not have his passport with him."

Referee Phil Griffin, however, reported Janniro to the Speedway Control Bureau.

Janniro's absence rendered the third leg almost a non-contest before it had started.

But that didn't bother Poole's fans, who returned to Wimborne Road in droves and celebrated their side's victory in appropriate party style.

PIRATES v COVENTRY v EASTBOURNE

Pirates 38: 1 Bjarne Pedersen (3-3-3-3) 12, 2 Tommy Allen (fell exc-1) 1, 3 Grzegorz Walasek (1-1*-1-1) 4+1, 4 Krzysztof Kasprzak (3-2-3-3) 11, 5 (guest) Fredrik Lindgren (2*-1*-1-1) 5+2, 6 Craig Boyce (3-2-0-ret) 5. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Coventry 29: 1 Scott Nicholls (2-3-3-2), 10, 2 (guest) Danny Warwick (1*-0-1-ret) 2+1, 3 Chris Harris (1-3-2-3) 9, 4 Oliver Allen (0-0-0-) 1, 5 Rory Schlein (1-2-2-1) 6, 6 (guest) Daniel Giffard (0-0-1*-0) 1+1. Team managers: Peter Oakes and Colin Pratt.

Eastbourne 41: 1 Adam Shields (2-2-fell exc-fell) 4, 2 Dean Barker (0-fell exc-2-2) 4, 3 Nicki Pedersen (3-3-3-3) 12, 4 Lewis Bridger (2*-0-2*-2*) 6+3, 5 David Norris (1*-1-3-1*) 6+2, 6 Edward Kennett (2-3-2*-2) 9+1. Team managers: Trevor Geer and Jon Cook.

Referee: Phil Griffin.

Ht 1: (re-run) B Pedersen, Nicholls, Warwick, T Allen (fell excluded), 60.59 (3-3-0).

Ht 2: N Pedersen, Bridger, Harris, O Allen, 59.26 (3-4-5).

Ht 3: Kasprzak, Shields, Walasek, Barker, 59.02 (7-4-7).

Ht 4: Boyce, Lindgren, Schlein, Giffard, 60.22 (12-5-7).

Ht 5: Nicholls, Kennett, Norris, Warwick, 59.27 (12-8-10).

Ht 6: (re-run) B Pedersen, Shields, T Allen, Barker (fell excluded), 60.39 (16-8-12).

Ht 7: Harris, Boyce, Lindgren, O Allen, 59.27 (19-11-12).

Ht 8: Kennett, Schlein, Norris, Giffard, 60.68 (19-13-16).

Ht 9: N Pedersen, Kasprzak, Walasek, Bridger, 60.04 (22-13-19).

Ht 10: B Pedersen, Schlein, Giffard, T Allen (non-starter), 59.78 (25-16-19).

Ht 11: (re-run) Nicholls, Barker, Warwick, Shields (fell excluded), 59.64 (25-20-21).

Ht 12: Norris, Kennett, Lindgren, Boyce, 60.08 (26-20-26).

Ht 13: Kasprzak, Harris, Walasek, O Allen, 59.83 (30-22-26).

Ht 14: N Pedersen, Bridger, Schlein, Giffard, 60.50 (30-23-31).

Ht 15: B Pedersen, Kennett, Norris, T Allen (non-starter), 60.50 (33-23-34).

Ht 16: Kasprzak, Nicholls, Walasek, Warwick (retired), 59.84 (37-25-34).

Ht 17: Harris, Barker, O Allen, Shields (fell), 60.44 (37-29-36).

Ht 18: N Pedersen, Bridger, Lindgren, Boyce (retired), 61.29 (38-29-41).