Pirates: Middlo rues lack of support for top duo

The duo from Down Under racked up 31 of Poole’s 42 points as they inspired a stirring, last-gasp fightback which came up agonisingly short at Monmore Green.

Trailing by a mammoth 17 points after 10 heats, Ward and Tungate won the final five races to almost salvage a miracle point against the league leaders.

After a dreadful opening to the meeting, Pirates ended up winning eight of the races, only for five Wolves maximums to hit them hard.

Manager Middleditch also highlighted a dearth of back-up for Ward and Tungate as Maciej Janowski (2) and Josh Grajczonek (0) struggled badly in the 49-42 Elite League loss.

Middleditch told the Daily Echo: “Paid 16 for Rohan was an outstanding effort. He rode the track really well, used his head and beat some really good riders. He was the kingpin of the meeting. Darcy was Darcy and he was on top form but we didn’t have enough back-up.

“Magic (Janowski) just wasn’t at the races. He had a bad one at Coventry and another tonight. It is back to the drawing board for him.”

Without stricken captain Chris Holder and injured Tomas H Jonasson, Pirates made a dire start and simply left themselves far too much to do.

An opening 4-2 from Chris Harris and Ludvig Lindgren over Ward set the tone as Wolves piled on the early pressure.

Lindgren and Jacob Thorssell, then Thorssell and Tai Woffinden, hammered home maximum heat wins in races two and four to leave Pirates reeling.

Star duo Ward and Tungate responded with a morale-boosting 8-1 as stand-in skipper Ward led from the front while on a tactical.

But ex-Pirates stars Adam Skornicki and Lindgren replied by heading a 5-1 and rare 5-0, respectively, to put the hosts firmly in charge at 29-15.

Janowski was struggling to make an impact and he fell when going for double points, with Micky Dyer’s win over Ricky Wells little consolation. Janowski’s woes continued when he was excluded in his next outing as Tungate impressed again by fending off Wells and Skornicki.

In-form guest Harris and big-hitting reserve Thorssell grabbed another 5-1 before Ward and Tungate set about the most unlikely of comebacks.

The compatriots combined for their second maximum haul to cut the deficit to 40-27 after 11.

Between them, Ward and Tungate won the next four races but Harris’s late pass on guest Martin Smolinski in an epic heat 15 denied Poole a losing point.

HEAT DETAILS

Wolves 49: 1 Chris Harris (guest) (3-2*-3-2-1*) 11+2, 2 R/R for Ty Proctor, 3 Ricky Wells (1-1-2-2-1) 7, 4 Adam Skornicki (3-0-3-1*-2) 9+1, 5 Tai Woffinden (2*-2*-r-1*-2) 7+3, 6 Ludvig Lindgren (1-3-3-1-0) 8, 7 Jacob Thorssell (2*-3-fx-2*-0) 7+2.

Team manager: Peter Adams.

Pirates 42: 1 Darcy Ward (pictured above) (2-6^-3-3-3) 17, 2 R/R for Tomas H Jonasson, 3 Martin Smolinski (guest) (2-f-1-2*-0) 5+1, 4 Josh Grajczonek (0-0-r-0) 0, 5 Maciej Janowski (1-1-fx^-fx) 2, 6 Rohan Tungate (1-2*-0-3-2*-3-3) 14+2, 7 Micky Dyer (0-0-3-0-1) 4.

Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Referee: Graham Flint.

League points: Wolverhampton Wolves 3 Poole Pirates 0.

Ht 1: Harris, Ward, L Lindgren, Grajczonek (4-2)

Ht 2: L Lindgren, Thorssell, Tungate, Dyer (9-3)

Ht 3: Skornicki, Smolinski, Wells, Grajczonek (13-5)

Ht 4: Thorssell, Woffinden, Janowski, Dyer (18-6)

Ht 5: Ward (tactical rider, double points), Tungate, Wells, Skornicki (19-14)

Ht 6: Skornicki, Harris, Janowski, Tungate (24-15)

Ht 7: L Lindgren, Woffinden, Smolinski (fell), Grajczonek (retired) (29-15)

Ht 8: (re-run) Dyer, Wells, Janowski (tactical rider, fell excluded), Thorssell (fell excluded) (31-18)

Ht 9: (awarded) Tungate, Wells, Skornicki, Janowski (fell excluded) (34-21)

Ht 10: Harris, Thorssell, Smolinski, Grajczonek (39-22)

Ht 11: Ward, Tungate, Lindgren, Woffinden (retired) (40-27)

Ht 12: Tungate, Smolinski, Wells, Thorssell (41-32)

Ht 13: Ward, Harris, Woffinden, Dyer (44-35)

Ht 14: Tungate, Skornicki, Dyer, Lindgren (46-39)

Ht 15: Ward, Woffinden, Harris, Smolinski (49-42)

• Tonight’s other Elite League result: Belle Vue 42 Swindon 47.