PIRATES had victory snatched from their grasp as the mercurial Matej Zagar earned a 45-45 draw for an impressive Belle Vue side at Wimborne Road.

Poole had battled back from six points down and had led by two heading into heat 15, only for Zagar to overhaul opposite number Chris Holder for top spot.

Once again the absence of injured Pirates skipper Maciej Janowski appeared crucial but the Aces were good value for a draw, with Craig Cook and Scott Nicholls on the gas throughout.

Holder trailed at the back in a rather disappointing opening race in which the Aces secured a 4-2 advantage.

The visitors’ Stefan Nielsen then survived a frightening home-straight wheelie to hold on for a point, while Kyle Newman overhauled Steve Worrall to take the chequered flag.

Mark Lemon’s side turned the screw further as Nicholls and Richie Worrall seized control on bend two and bagged a maximum which increased to six points the advantage.

Kacper Gomolski replied with a creditable heat win that had been made awkward by both the setting sun and the attentions of the hard-charging Cook.

Referee Dave Robinson elected not to penalise the Aces’ Max Fricke despite a clear jump at the start of heat six and the visitors therefore grasped an 18-12 lead.

A manful effort by Gomolski was not enough to deny Nicholls a point next time out as the ex-Grand Prix star blasted round the boards on the final turn.

But Pirates at least made headway before the second track grading thanks to guest Richard Lawson’s victory, backed up by the third-placed Holder.

The hosts drew level for the first time when Gomolski blocked Steve Worrall’s path on turn two, allowing Newman to scoot into second and record a maximum with his team-mate.

Josh Grajczonek, in the final meeting of his minimum 28-day spell, took to seven points his total with a heat-nine success that would have been a Poole maximum had Cook not spoiled Newman’s plans.

In reply, Zagar and Fricke notched a 5-1 despite the latter looking less than comfortable but Holder grabbed a much-needed win to help level the scores once more.

Pirates appeared to have the upper hand when Stefan Nielsen packed up in heat 12 but Steve Worrall stopped any damage with an excellent ride to keep Newman in second.

Neil Middleditch’s side enjoyed a stroke of luck in heat 13 when Zagar – aboard Fricke’s bike – retired early on, allowing Holder and Lawson to nail a 4-2 and put Poole in front for the second time.

Richie Worrall crashed through the tapes in the penultimate race but Cook triumphed in the re-run, before Zagar stopped Holder’s charge in heat 15.

Meanwhile, Swindon’s Lewis Rose will guest in place of the unavailable Paul Starke in Monday’s visit to Wolverhampton.

No guest has yet been recruited to fill in for injured skipper Janowski with rider replacement looking like the most favourable option.

HEAT DETAILS AND RIDERS' SCORES

PIRATES 45: 1 Chris Holder (0-1-3- 3-2) 9, 2 Josh Grajczonek (2-2-3-1) 8, 3 Dakota North (1-3-1-1*) 6+1, 4 Kacper Gomolski (3-0-3-2-0) 8, 5 Richard Lawson, guest (0-3-0-1) 4, 6 Paul Starke (0-0-1*) 1+1, 7 Kyle Newman (3-1-2*-1-2) 9+1. TEAM MANAGER: Neil Middleditch.

ACES 45: 1 Matej Zagar (3-2-3-r-3) 11, 2 Max Fricke (1-3-0-2*) 6+1, 3 Richie Worrall, guest (2*-0-0-x) 2+1, 4 Craig Cook (2-2-2-3-1) 10, 5 Scott Nicholls (3-1*-2-2) 8+1, 6 Steve Worrall (2-1-1-3-0) 7, 7 Stefan Nielsen (1*-0-0-r) 1+1. TEAM MANAGER: Mark Lemon.

HT 1: Zagar, Grajczonek, Fricke, Holder, 60.63 (2-4)

HT 2: Newman, S Worrall, Nielsen, Starke, 61.50 (5-7)

HT 3 (RE-RUN X2): Nicholls, R Worrall, North, Lawson, 60.54 (6-12)

HT 4 (RE-RUN): Gomolski, Cook, Newman, Nielsen, 61.69 (10-14)

HT 5: Fricke, Grajczonek, S Worrall, Starke, 61.56 (12-18)

HT 6: North, Zagar, Nicholls, Gomolski, 60.56 (15-21)

HT 7: Lawson, Cook, Holder, R Worrall, 61.22 (19-23)

HT 8 (RE-RUN): Gomolski, Newman, S Worrall, Fricke, 62.35 (24-24)

HT 9: Grajczonek, Cook, Newman, Nielsen, 61.59 (28-26)

HT 10: Zagar, Fricke, North, Lawson, 61.16 (29-31)

HT 11 (RE-RUN): Holder, Nicholls, Grajczonek, R Worrall, 60.97 (33-33)

HT 12: S Worrall, Newman, Starke, Nielsen (15m, retired), 62.47 (36-36)

HT 13: Holder, Nicholls, Lawson, Zagar (retired), 61.25 (40-38)

HT 14 (RE-RUN): Cook, Gomolski, North, S Worrall, R Worrall (dsq/ tapes), 60.94 (43-41)

HT 15: Zagar, Holder,  Cook, Gomolski, 61.41 (45-45)

ECHO STAR RIDER - JOSH GRAJCZONEK

There weren’t many candidates for rider of the night with many experiencing mixed fortunes on the shale.

Josh Grajczonek was as solid as anyone in the final meeting of his temporary spell at Wimborne Road.

It was a fairly pleasing way for the Aussie to sign off and he can be happy enough with his displays since replacing countryman Davey Watt in the side.

Kacper Gomolski was also very impressive in patches and was always entertaining.