IF you thought the Elite League pendulum had swung in Poole Pirates’ favour, think again.

Tonight's 51-39 defeat to in-form Peterborough served as a stark reminder to everyone at Wimborne Road that the toughest tests still lie ahead for Darcy Ward and co as Panthers bit back to hit Poole’s play-off bid.

Kenneth Bjerre led by example with four heat wins, finishing ahead of every Pirate he faced, while number seven Patrick Hougaard snapped up 7+2 as the visitors scored consistently from top to bottom in this determined display.

And in a strange quirk of fate, Poole – considered by some critics to be too top heavy – saw their leading lights suffer on a night where the lower order provided tremendous support.

Micky Dyer topped the charts for the hosts with 8+1 while Tomas H Jonasson bounced back from a rocky start to supply seven.

But Ward drifted around the bends with difficulty all night while Maciej Janowski never really recovered from his fall at the start of heat four.

And the visitors, unbeaten since being crushed at Eastbourne at the start of July, needed no second invitation to pouch all four points as Poole blew a big chance to pile the pressure on rivals Lakeside.

Ward fell behind Bjerre as Panthers secured an early maximum before brave riding from Dakota North in heat two saw Pirates suffer a shock start to the meeting.

Greg Hancock stemmed the flow of failure but Rohan Tungate couldn’t quite hold off Norbert Kosciuch for second.

Janowski’s tumble at the first bend in heat four was a sign of things to come as the Pole uncharacteristically finished last in the re-run, despite Dyer’s first win at Wimborne Road.

And when Bjerre steamed round the outside of Hancock for a comfortable victory, the silence around the stadium was deafening. Ward was fuming after coming close to a spill in heat six and finishing behind Joonas Kylmakorpi.

The heat of the night saw a titanic battle involving Janowski and Kyle Howarth, but Krzysztof Buczkowski eventually trumped both on the last turn to maintain Panthers’ eight-point cushion.

Jonasson began to turn the tide with a win in heat eight as the Swede superbly shut out Hougaard round the first bend as Dyer continued his deadly form in second. That maximum was followed by a tenacious display from Tungate, while Jonasson’s second victory in heat 10 reduced the arrears to just two points.

But when Howarth lost control and was excluded from the re-run of heat 11, Bjerre and Ryan Fisher teamed up for their second 5-1 of the night as Janowski ploughed a helpless lone furrow through the shale.

Hancock blitzed heat 12 while Dyer grabbed third on the line to keep the hosts’ hopes of three league points alive.

But Bjerre’s third victory effectively killed the contest before another 5-1 – led by Hougaard – secured Panthers’ victory with one heat to spare.

A flat evening was completed when Hancock and Ward were eased aside in the final showdown as Peterborough secured their third away win on the spin.

SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

Pirates 39: 1 Darcy Ward (1-2-1-1*-1) 6+1, 2 Tomas H Jonasson (0-1*-3-3) 7+1, 3 Greg Hancock (3-2-0-3-0) 8, 4 Rohan Tungate (1-0-3-0) 4, 5 Maciej Janowski (0-1*-1-2) 4+1, 6 Kyle Howarth (0-2-0) 2, 7 Micky Dyer (1-3-2*-1-1) 8+1.
Team manager: Neil Middleditch.
Peterborough Panthers 51: 1 Kenneth Bjerre (2*-3-3-3-3) 14+1, 2 Ryan Fisher (3-1-0-2*) 6+1, 3 Norbert Kosciuch (2-0-2-0) 4, 4 Krzysztof Buczkowski (0-3-0-2*) 5+1, 5 Joonas Kylmakorpi (2-3-2-0-2*) 9+1, 6 Dakota North (3-0-1*-2) 6+1, 7 Patrick Hougaard (2*-1*-1-3) 7+2.
Team managers: Trevor Swales and Ryan Sullivan.
Elite League points: Poole Pirates 0 Peterborough Panthers 4.


Ht 1: Fisher, Bjerre, Ward, Jonasson 60.34 (1-5)
Ht 2: North, Hougaard, Dyer, Howarth 60.78 (2-10)
Ht 3: Hancock, Kosciuch, Tungate, Buczkowski 61.13 (6-12)
Ht 4: Dyer, Kylmakorpi, Hougaard, Janowski 60.90 (9-15)
Ht 5: Bjerre, Hancock, Fisher, Tungate 59.91 (11-19)
Ht 6: Kylmakorpi, Ward, Jonasson, North 60.53 (14-22)
Ht 7: Buczkowski, Howarth, Janowski, Kosciuch 61.75 (17-25)
Ht 8: Jonasson, Dyer, Hougaard, Fisher 61.04 (22-26)
Ht 9: Tungate, Kylmakorpi, North, Hancock 61.31 (25-29)
Ht 10: Jonasson, Kosciuch, Ward, Buczkowski 61.09 (29-31)
Ht 11: Bjerre, Fisher, Janowski, Howarth (excluded) 60.78 (30-36)
Ht 12: Hancock, North, Dyer, Kosciuch 61.44 (34-38)
Ht 13: Bjerre, Janowski, Ward, Kylmakorpi 60.68 (37-41)
Ht 14: Hougaard, Buczkowski, Dyer, Tungate 61.16 (38-46)
Ht 15: Bjerre, Kylmakorpi, Ward, Hancock 60.90 (39-51)