QUESTIONS may linger but Pirates did enough to see off a battling Wolverhampton side and take a step closer to the Elite League play-offs.

Trailing by two points with four races to go, three heat advantages were enough to see the hosts across the line despite a Wimborne Road display that occasionally lacked conviction.

The 48-42 victory means that if Swindon fail to secure maximum points at home to Wolverhampton tomorrow night, Pirates’ play-off berth will be secure - unless points difference comes into play.

However, promoter Matt Ford will be keenly aware that the vacant number one slot left open by the banned Darcy Ward is a key area for concern heading into the end-of-season showpiece meetings.

Bjarne Pedersen managed just four points against Wolverhampton in addition to his zero at Lakeside on Monday and the knock-on effects of a lesser spearhead were clearly in evidence.

Nevertheless, Maciej Janowski gave Pirates fans plenty of reasons to be cheerful on an entertaining evening of racing.

Both line-ups had a guest-heavy look to them for the Wimborne Road clash.

Poole legend Pedersen was in as cover for Ward, while Lakeside’s Lewis Bridger was selected to replace collarbone injury victim Shamek Pawlicki.

Wolverhampton were without reigning world champion Tai Woffinden and axed Pole Piotr Pawlicki, so Coventry’s Chris Harris and King’s Lynn’s Rory Schlein were tracked instead.

Harris took centre stage in the opener as he nipped inside Pedersen and Josh Grajczonek to finish second and help the visitors to a maximum.

In a re-run second outing, Kyle Newman put early pressure on fellow reserve Joe Jacobs but the Wolves man then pulled away to prevent damage following Tom Perry’s exclusion.

Lasse Bjerre bullied his way into the first bend next time out but the in-form Janowski rounded the Dane on bend two and went on to secure the first home win of the evening.

The recent struggles of reserve Benji Compton continued as Poole once more failed to deliver a heat advantage in heat four, with victory for Bridger ensuring a third 3-3 on the spin.

However, Pirates soon drew level at 15-15 after Janowski and Pedersen smoothly passed Jacob Thorssell, who was later to retire with mechanical gremlins.

A gutsy effort from Bridger ended with the Lakeside man coming to grief when he tried to rip round Schlein on the final lap, allowing Harris and Schlein to reply with a maximum of their own.

The 44-year-old Peter Karlsson rolled back the years with a vintage triumph in heat seven, giving Peter Adams’s men a 23-19 advantage heading into the second track grading.

Boos rang out among the home faithful after Bjerre took the chequered flag following the restart, the former Swindon man’s rolling start seemingly evading the eyes of referee Mick Posselwhite.

Newman and Compton gave Pirates their second heat advantage of the meeting with a 4-2 in heat nine, but once again Wolves came up with the ideal riposte.

A two-tier contest saw Schlein swoop round Pedersen on the final bend while Jacob Thorssell, off the back of two retirements, kept Grajczonek at arm’s length.

The race was behind the peerless Janowski in heat 11 as Harris and heat leader Vaclav Milik twice exchanged second place in a thrilling encounter, with another superb battle coming next.

Newman kept out the flying Bjerre early on and then the resurgent Grajczonek inched past the Wolves man on the back straight of lap two, putting Pirates in front for the first time.

Janowski’s perfect card was ruined by the impressive Harris in a from-the-gate heat 13, before matters took another twist in the penultimate heat.

Karlsson suffered a fall when poised to take second on the third bend, allowing Bridger and Newman to cruise home unchallenged and open up a four-point advantage for the home side.

In heat 15, Bridger was again at the centre of the action as he battled gamely with Harris, the Poole guest sneaking third ahead of Schlein after a late charge by the Aussie.

Janowski told the Daily Echo afterwards: “It was a very tough meeting. Wolves pushed all the time and it was hard to get points but finally we caught them and won.

“I was nervous and stressed in the middle of the meeting because they fought so hard, but I’m happy with the win."

Pirates 48: 1 Bjarne Pedersen, guest (0-2*-2-0) 4+1, 2 Josh Grajczonek (1-2-0-2*) 5+1, 3 Vaclav Milik (0-1-2-1) 4, 4 Lewis Bridger, guest (3-f-1*-3-1)8+1 , 5 Maciej Janowski (3-3-3-2-3) 14, 6 Benji Compton (1*-0-1) 2+1, 7 Kyle Newman (2-1*-3-3-2*) 11+2.

Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Wolves 42: 1 Chris Harris, guest (2*-3-2-3-2) 12+1, 2 Lasse Bjerre (3-2-3-1) 9, 3 Jacob Thorssell (2-r-r-1) 3, 4 Peter Karlsson (1-3-0-f) 4, 5 Rory Schlein, guest (1*-2*-3-1-0) 7+2, 6 Joe Jacobs (3-1*-2-0-1) 7+1, 7 Tom Perry (fx-0-r) 0.

Team manager: Peter Adams.

HEAT DETAILS

Ht 1: Bjerre, Harris, Grajczonek, Pedersen, 61.19 (1-5)

Ht 2 (re-run): Jacobs, Newman, Compton, Perry (fell/dsq), 61.87 (4-8)

Ht 3: Janowski, Thorssell, Schlein, Milik, 61.06 (7-11)

Ht 4: Bridger, Bjerre, Jacobs, Compton, 61.19 (10-14)

Ht 5: Janowski, Pedersen, Karlsson, Thorssell (retired), 61.35 (15-15)

Ht 6: Harris, Schlein, Milik, Bridger (fell), awarded (16-20)

Ht 7: Karlsson, Grajczonek, Newman, Perry, 61.50 (19-23)

Ht 8: Bjerre, Milik, Bridger, Thorssell (retired), 61.35 (22-26)

Ht 9: Newman, Jacobs, Compton, Perry (retired), 61.75 (26-28)

Ht 10: Schlein, Pedersen, Thorssell, Grajczonek, 61.04 (28-32)

Ht 11: Janowski, Harris, Milik, Karlsson, 61.94 (32-24)

Ht 12: Newman, Grajczonek, Bjerre, Jacobs, 61.81 (37-35)

Ht 13: Harris, Janowski, Schlein, Pedersen, 60.75 (39-39)

Ht 14: Bridger, Newman, Jacobs, Karlsson (fell), 61.28 (44-40)

Ht 15: Janowski, Harris, Bridger, Schlein, 60.75 (48-42)

Points: Pirates 2 Wolves 1

ECHO STAR RIDER: MACIEJ JANOWSKI

JANOWSKI has been in superb form of late and the Polish star continued in that vein at Wimborne Road tonight.

Having scored nine points or more in the last six meetings, Janowski showed no sign of letting up as he showcased both his gating and passing skills.

Both Lasse Bjerre and Jacob Thorssell could not keep Janowski out and when he gated, no one could get near him.

The flying Chris Harris was the only Wolverhampton rider to beat the home captain in a highly impressive showing.