NEIL Middleditch reflected on Pirates’ agonising defeat at Wolves and then lauded his rookie reserves for showing what the club had lacked in 2012.

Battling Poole claimed one point from their first away Elite League clash of the season after a dramatic 45-44 loss tonight.

Without injured Darcy Ward and Robert Miskowiak, depleted Poole looked set to defy the odds when they led 33-32 after 11 races.

But Ricky Wells and Ludvig Lindgren stunned world champion Chris Holder in heat 12 as Pirates were left with too much to do in the closing stages.

Maciej Janowski (1+1) endured a costly struggle as guest Niels-Kristian Iversen (14) and reserve duo Rohan Tungate (9+2) and Kyle Howarth (8) all starred.

For much of last term, Pirates were labelled top-heavy due to their middle and lower order’s inability to back up the club’s powerhouse top three.

But Middleditch is hoping that the promising form of reserves Tungate and Howarth could solve that problem in 2013.

The Pirates team manager told the Daily Echo: “Magic (Janowski) had a night to forget but there were encouraging signs from young Kyle and Rohan who did really well. That was what we missed last season.”

Pirates led 16-12 after three heats before Wolves went on a run of seven successive wins from races six to 12, the latter a 5-1 from Wells and Ludvig Lindgren to go 37-34 ahead.

Middleditch said: “I am glad we came away with a league point because we fought really hard. It was a great effort.”

Iversen and Dawid Stachyra got the ball rolling before Howarth and Tungate minimised the damage of Ludvig Lindgren’s win. Holder and Stachyra then combined for a maximum to leave the hosts with plenty to do.

Wolves talisman Freddie Lindgren hit back in race four before Tai Woffinden and Ty Proctor reduced the deficit after Iversen had cruised home.

Holder and Tungate got a 3-3 behind Freddie Lindgren, then Tungate and Stachyra did the same as Proctor took heat eight.

Adam Skornicki saw off Howarth as struggling Janowski registered his first point of the night in race nine.

Woffinden racked up Wolves’ fifth straight win – and seventh in 10 races – ahead of Howarth and Holder. But despite that record, Pirates had been condemned to just three last places and were still 28-26 in front.

Freddie Lindgren then ruined Iversen’s perfect record to cut the Poole lead to a single point.

The Monmore faithful were jubilant as the momentum shifted after Holder had been beaten by Wells and Ludvig Lindgren.

After a run of seven consecutive Wolves wins, Iversen halted the charge. Tungate, in his first appearance at the track, capped an exceptional performance by blasting past Ludvig Lindgren to claim heat 14, although Skornicki beat Howarth to leave Pirates in need of something special.

Superb guest Iversen won the all-GP clash in heat 15 but Pirates missed out as Freddie Lindgren fended off Holder.

RIDER SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

Wolves 45: 1 Tai Woffinden (2-3-3-1*-0) 9+1, 2 Ty Proctor (0-1-3-0) 4, 3 Ricky Wells (0-2-0-3) 5, 4 Adam Skornicki (1-1*-3-1*) 6+2, 5 Freddie Lindgren (3-3-3-2-2) 13, 6 Ludvig Lindgren (3-0-fx-2*-2) 7+1, 7 Jacob Thorssell (0-1-0) 1. Team manager: Peter Adams.

Pirates 44: 1 Niels-Kristian Iversen (guest) (3-3-2-3-3) 14, 2 Dawid Stachyra (1-2*-0-1*-r) 4+2, 3 Chris Holder (3-2-1*-1-1) 8+1, Rider Replacement for Robert Miskowiak, 5 Maciej Janowski (0-0-1*-0) 1+1, 6 Kyle Howarth (2-2-2-2-0-0) 8, 7 Rohan Tungate (1*-2-1*-2-3) 9+2. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

League points: Wolverhampton Wolves 2 Poole Pirates 1.

Referee: Darren Hartley.

Ht 1: Iversen, Woffinden, Stachyra, Proctor (2-4)

Ht 2: L Lindgren, Howarth, Tungate, Thorssell (5-7)

Ht 3: Holder, Stachyra, Skornicki, Wells (6-12)

Ht 4: F Lindgren, Tungate, Thorssell, Janowski (10-14)

Ht 5: Iversen, Wells, Skornicki, Stachyra (13-17)

Ht 6: Woffinden, Howarth, Proctor, Janowski (17-19)

Ht 7: F Lindgren, Holder, Tungate, L Lindgren (20-22)

Ht 8: Proctor, Tungate, Stachyra, Thorssell (23-25)

Ht 9: Skornicki, Howarth, Janowski, Wells (26-28)

Ht 10: Woffinden, Howarth, Holder, Proctor (29-31)

Ht 11: (Awarded) F Lindgren, Iversen, L Lindgren (fell, excluded), Stachyra (retired) (32-33)

Ht 12: (Re-run) Wells, L Lindgren, Holder, Howarth (37-34)

Ht 13: (Re-run) Iversen, F Lindgren, Woffinden, Janowski (40-37)

Ht 14: Tungate, L Lindgren, Skornicki, Howarth (43-40)

Ht 15: Iversen, F Lindgren, Holder, Woffinden (45-44)