FLYING Darcy Ward tormented his parent club as Pirates experienced a torrid away day at Swindon.

On his home debut and in front of the Sky cameras, Ward racked up 11 paid 12 to help the Robins secure a 50-42 victory in a carnage-filled encounter at Blunsdon.

Poole had taken at least a point in eight out of nine away Elite League fixtures in 2015 but they ran into untold problems in Wiltshire, with visiting riders failing to finish on six separate occasions.

A hotly-anticipated opener fell flat when Chris Holder, having out-gated Ward, pulled up on turn three, before home debutant Eduard Krcmar pushed his bike round the final three bends after a spectacular spill.

Final-bend drama ensued in heat two when Paul Starke came off the back of his machine and Lewis Rose, in attempting to avoid the Pirates man, clipped him and clattered awkwardly into the side fence.

The stricken Rose was taken away in ambulance with wrist and shoulder problems and after honours were shared in heat three, Kyle Newman kept the points damage down with a second place in the next outing.

Davey Watt won a lively battle with Krcmar for second in heat five but the Swindon lead still extended to six points thanks to Charles Wright’s triumph.

Heat five brought a Robins 4-2 and Pirates got a dose of luck next time out when guest Hans Andersen pulled up when third, resulting in a 3-3.

A chaotic encounter continued in heat seven when Dakota North was thrown off his machine and Kacper Gomolski had to swiftly lay the bike down behind him.

Gomolski was treated for a hand injury but then came to grief on the re-run as he tried to round Ward, leaving Troy Batchelor and Ward to gleefully bag a 5-0 heat advantage.

Eleven points down, Poole began a comeback of sorts. Watt made a good gate in the black and white helmet and was virtually unchallenged on his way to six points, before a Gomolski-Newman 5-1 brought Pirates to within four points.

Holder lost out to Hans Andersen in heat 10 despite throwing everything at it and Ward was a class apart in heat 11, although Krcmar’s struggles at the back aided the Poole effort.

Once again a rider finished on foot next time out in a three-man heat 12, this time Newman required to run virtually the entire final lap for a point as Wright triumphed, keeping Poole six points behind.

However, Robins did not let up and they banked a 4-2 spearheaded by Ward, with Andersen and Grzegorz Zengota then wrapping up the win with a stylish maximum.

Janowski and Holder secured a 5-1 in an academic final heat with the Pirates leaving Blunsdon with nothing to show for their efforts.

Pirates are next in action at Wolverhampton on Monday.

STAR RIDER – MACIEJ JANOWSKI

It was far from vintage stuff from Maciej Janowski but he managed to keep solid scores coming in as matters went wrong for his team-mates.

Eleven points at the Pole’s old track was a more than respectable effort and was the standout performance, with Kyle Newman the only Pirates rider to get near him.

It was a rare off-night on the road for Poole but Janowski’s cool head kept the visitors in the mix for points for longer than might have been expected.

The skipper once again proved his value, despite the end result.

RIDERS’ SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

Robins 50: 1 Darcy Ward (3-2*-3-3-0) 11+1, 2 Eduard Krcmar (1-1-0-0) 2, 3 Hans Andersen, guest (r-r-3-3) 6, 4 Grzegorz Zengota (3-3-1*-2*-1) 10+2, 5 Troy Batchelor (3-3-1-1) 8, 6 Charles Wright (2-1-3-2-1-3) 12, 7 Lewis Rose (1*) 1+1. Team manager: Alun Rossiter.

Pirates 42: 1 Chris Holder (r-1*-2-0-2*) 5+2, 2 Davey Watt (2-2-6^-0) 10, 3 Dakota North (1*-fx-1*-f) 2+2 , 4 Kacper Gomolski (0-fx-3-1) 4, 5 Maciej Janowski (2-2-2-2-3) 11, 6 Paul Starke (fx-r-2) 2, 7 Kyle Newman (3-2-0-2*-1*) 8+2. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Ht 1: Ward, Watt, Krcmar (fell/push), Holder (retired), 66.08 (4-2)

Ht 2 (re-run): Newman, Wright, Rose, Starke (fell/dsq), 68.21 (7-5)

Ht 3: Batchelor, Janowski, North, Andersen (retired), 65.74 (10-8)

Ht 4: Zengota, Newman, Wright, Gomolski, 66.59 (14-10)

Ht 5: Wright, Watt, Krcmar, Starke, 67.49 (18-12)

Ht 6: Zengota, Janowski, Holder, Andersen (retired), 65.46 (21-15)

Ht 7 (re-run x2): Batchelor, Ward, Gomolski (fell/dsq), North (fell/dsq), 67.96 (26-15)

Ht 8: Watt (tactical), Wright, Zengota, Newman, 66.55 (29-21)

Ht 9: Gomolski, Newman, Wright, Krcmar, 68.05 (30-26)

Ht 10: Andersen, Holder, Batchelor, Watt, 66.83 (34-28)

Ht 11: Ward, Janowski, North, Krcmar, 65.84 (37-31)

Ht 12: Wright, Starke, Newman (push), 68.43 (40-34)

Ht 13 (re-run): Ward, Janowski, Batchelor, Holder, 66.18 (44-36)

Ht 14: Andersen, Zengota, Gomolski, North (fell/dsq), 68.14 (49-37)

Ht 15 (re-run): Janowski, Holder, Zengota, Ward, 66.14 (50-42)