AS ONE reserve made his Pirates debut, another reminded the Wimborne Road faithful of his significant ability on a motorbike tonight in the 57-37 thrashing of Belle Vue.

Brendon Johnson’s Elite League bow for Pirates stole the headlines ahead of the clash with the Aces, but Kyle Newman – like his fellow reserve Poole-born and bred – found rampant form when the tapes went up.

Gating and team-riding immaculately, the 22-year-old stormed to his first Elite League paid maximum and was part of a powerful performance in which the home side never looked troubled.

Pirates gained revenge for their Monday defeat to the Aces and moved to within a single point of Lakeside in second, more importantly gaining an eight-point cushion in the play-offs.

The meeting’s start was delayed by half an hour due to heavy traffic in the Poole area, but that did not appear to shake the focus of the home side one bit.

Fast-gating duo Josh Grajczonek and Darcy Ward were never challenged in a straightforward opener that saw Belle Vue’s Grand Prix star Matej Zagar experience motorbike gremlins while at the back.

Newman and Johnson further increased the advantage in an almost eventless contest, before Maciej Janowski saw off early pressure from Scott Nicholls.

A shared heat four followed with the rapidly-improving Vaclav Milik picking up where he left off at Belle Vue on Monday, giving the hosts a 16-8 lead.

Heat leader Janowski scooted round Nicholls on bend two to join Ward for a second 5-1, the Pole taking the chequered flag as his team-mate pulled a wheelie on the home straight.

The Aces gained their first heat advantage in race six as Zagar romped away and Cardiff-bound Craig Cook slammed the door shut on the hard-charging Shamek Pawlicki on lap two.

However, Poole returned the maximum favour thanks to a terrific display of team-riding from Newman and Grajczonek, the duo brilliantly blocking off Michael Palm Toft for all four laps.

Pirates then blunted a Nicholls tactical thanks to Pawlicki’s rapid second bend and Milik’s efforts in overcoming Aces guest Rohan Tungate Newman kept his flawless card going in heat nine and Ward and Grajczonek did the same next time out, leaving four home riders still on course for full or paid maximums.

Continuing his excellent evening, Janowski went hell for leather to keep his nose in front of the black-and-white helmet of Zagar and with both tacticals gone, the Aces were still 16 points down.

Grajczonek pushed Tungate all the way in heat 12 but the Pirates old boy showed he had retained his track knowledge by holding at bay his Aussie countryman.

A fast start from Zagar proved too much for Ward to make up and then Newman had the crowd in raptures with a daredevil ride to kept out Palm Toft, which completed his paid maximum.

Ward and Grajczonek rounded matters off with a 4-2 in heat 15, sending Pirates into tomorrow night's visit to Swindon in fine fettle (7.45pm).

The Robins are currently eight points off a play-off spot but have meetings in hand on all the teams above them.

Robins: (from) Peter Kildemand, Dakota North, Nick Morris, Simon Gustafsson, Troy Batchelor, Nathan Greaves, Steve Worrall.

Pirates: (from) Darcy Ward, Josh Grajczonek, Shamek Pawlicki, Vaclav Milik, Maciej Janowski, Kyle Newman, Brendan Johnson.

HEAT DETAILS

Pirates 57: 1 Darcy Ward (2*-2*-3-2-3) 12+2, 2 Josh Grajczonek (3-2*-2*-2-1) 10+2, 3 Shamek Pawlicki (1-1-3-0) 5, 4 Vaclav Milik (3-0-1-3) 7, 5 Maciej Janowski (3-3-3-1*) 10+1, 6 Brendan Johnson (1-0-1-0) 2, 7 Kyle Newman (3-3-3-2*) 11+1. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Aces 37: 1 Matej Zagar (r-3-4^-3) 10, 2 Rohan Tungate, guest (1-2-0-3-0) 6, 3 Scott Nicholls (2-1-4^-1-2) 10, 4 Michael Palm Toft (0-1-1*-1) 3+1, 5 Craig Cook (0-2*-0-r) 2+1, 6 Lee Payne (0-0-0-0) 0, 7 Stefan Nielsen (2-1*-2-1) 6+1. Team manager: Jason Attwood.

Ht 1: Grajczonek, Ward, Tungate, Zagar (retired), 61.46 (5-1)

Ht 2: Newman, Nielsen, Johnson, Payne, 61.59 (9-3)

Ht 3: Janowski, Nicholls, Pawlicki, Cook, 60.37 (13-5)

Ht 4: Milik, Tungate, Nielsen, Johnson, 60.91 (16-8)

Ht 5: Janowski, Ward, Nicholls, Palm Toft, 60.35 (21-9)

Ht 6: Zagar, Cook, Pawlicki, Milik, 61.53 (22-14)

Ht 7: Newman, Grajczonek, Palm Toft, Payne, 61.97 (27-15)

Ht 8: Pawlicki, Nicholls (tactical), Milik, Tungate, 60.85 (31-19)

Ht 9: Newman, Nielsen, Johnson, Payne, 62.47 (35-21)

Ht 10: Ward, Grajczonek, Nicholls, Cook, 61.22 (40-22)

Ht 11: Janowski, Zagar, Palm Toft, Pawlicki, 61.03 (43-27)

Ht 12: Tungate, Grajczonek, Nielsen, Johnson, 62.46 (45-31)

Ht 13: Zagar, Ward, Janowski, Cook (retired), 60.28 (48-34)

Ht 14 (re-run): Milik, Newman, Palm Toft, Payne, 61.94 (53-35)

Ht 15: Ward, Nicholls, Grajczonek, Tungate, 60.62 (57-37)

ECHO STAR RIDER: KYLE NEWMAN

ON A night when many Pirates flourished, Newman stood out above them all with a wonderful paid maximum – his first in the Elite League.

Some have questioned the form of the Poole-raised reserve but there was certainly no evidence of weakness in this showing.

The 22-year-old had great speed throughout and team-rode superbly with Josh Grajczonek in heat seven, arguably his most noteworthy display.

Having jumped the start in the penultimate race, Newman kept his cool under enormous pressure from Michael Palm Toft to finish second behind Vaclav Milik.