CHRIS Holder and Adam Ellis both bagged paid maximums as Pirates opened the defence of their Elite League crown with a 61-31 demolition of rivals Swindon.

Hans Andersen and Krzysztof Buczkowski also hit double figures at Wimborne Road on a superb afternoon for Neil Middleditch's side.

Swindon recorded just one heat advantage and were thankful to number one Jason Doyle for ensuring the scoreline was not even more emphatic.

Pirates were handed an early gift when leader Justin Sedgmen fell on turn three and was excluded, the young Aussie back on his feet after a few minutes.

Holder won the re-run from the gate with Jason Doyle and Brady Kurtz never looking close to improving their respective positions.

Ellis gated in the first reserves’ race but Kyle Newman ripped round the outside of Charles Wright and his fellow Poole reserve on turn two, resulting in a home maximum.

The lead was extended to 14-4 courtesy of rapid starts from Davey Watt and Buczkowski, the duo easily seeing off Josh Grajczonek and an out-of-sorts Nick Morris.

And Andersen helped to seal a third straight maximum when he roared off the outside gate and won the battle in a busy first turn, Newman joining him on bend three after diving under Charles Wright.

The Robins’ afternoon worsened when Stefan Nielsen pirouetted and fell awkwardly on the second lap of heat five, with the race awarded.

Nielsen was on his feet within several minutes but the maximum went to Kurtz and Ellis, who had narrowly avoided a collision on turn four after the former slid wide.

A thrilling head-to-head followed in heat six with Andersen just holding off tactical man Doyle for top spot, preventing a first Swindon heat advantage in the process.

Buczkowski and Holder banked a fifth Poole 5-1 in seven outings next with Grajczonek and Rohan Tungate nowhere near the pace required, the home lead increasing to 33-11.

Sedgmen finally earned a maiden win for the visitors in heat eight after he got off to a flier, the second-stringer getting the better of form riders Andersen and Newman.

Pirates had to secure their maximum the hard way in race nine with Newman powering beyond Wright on the second lap after the Swindon reserve had blasted to the front a lap earlier.

Kurtz left it until the last turn to pass Wright and clung on to win by a nose, before suffering a minor spill after the chequered flag.

Doyle continued his one-man crusade in heat 10 as he triumphed with relative ease but still a heat advantage evaded the visitors as Buczkowski bombed from last to second out of turn two.

Another untouchable display from Holder followed next with all the excitement at the back as Kurtz fought gamely with Morris, the latter quickly biting back after losing third spot on turn four.

Ellis completed his clean sweep of unbeaten rides in heat 12 after roaring round Wright on turns three and four, support from Newman in third giving Poole a 51-23 lead.

Squeezed right to the fence in heat 13, Holder showed nerves of steel to stay in front of Doyle while there was plenty of good work behind him as Buczkowski inched past Morris.

Swindon finally clocked up their first heat advantage in the penultimate contest, Grajczonek untroubled by Andersen as Watt retired while at the back.

Andersen blotted his copybook in the final showdown when he ran wide with Pirates on a 5-1, the Dane having to be content with third place.

But that minor blip did not prevent the hosts from hitting the 60-point mark as Buczkowski took the honours.

Pirates take on Swindon at the Abbey Stadium on Easter Sunday with both teams set to track unchanged septets (5pm).

Poole have no meeting this coming Wednesday as their trip to Belle Vue has been rescheduled for Wednesday, April 27.

RIDERS' SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

Pirates 61: 1 Chris Holder (3-2*-3-3) 11+1, 2 Brady Kurtz (1-2*-2*-0) 5+2, 3 Davey Watt (3-1-1*-r) 5+1, 4 Hans Andersen (3-3-2-2-1) 11, 5 Krzysztof Buczkowski (2*-3-2-1-3) 11+1, 6 Adam Ellis (2*-3-3-3) 11+1, 7 Kyle Newman (3-2*-1*-1) 7+2. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Robins 31: 1 Jason Doyle (2-4^-3-2-2) 13, 2 Justin Sedgmen (fx-1-3-0-0) 4, 3 Josh Grajczonek (1-1-2-3) 7, 4 Rohan Tungate (0-0-0-1) 1, 5 Nick Morris (0-0-1*-0) 1+1, 6 Stefan Nielsen (0-f-0-0) 0, 7 Charles Wright (1-1-1-2) 5. Team manager: Alun Rossiter.

Ht 1 (re-run): Holder, Doyle, Kurtz, Sedgmen (fell/dsq), 60.53 (4-2)

Ht 2: Newman, Ellis, Wright, Nielsen, 61.31 (9-3)

Ht 3: Watt, Buczkowski, Grajczonek, Morris, 60.75 (14-4)

Ht 4 (re-run): Andersen, Newman, Wright, Tungate, 60.74 (19-5)

Ht 5 (awarded): Ellis, Kurtz, Sedgmen, Nielsen (fell) (24-6)

Ht 6: Andersen, Doyle (tactical), Watt, Morris, 60.44 (28-10)

Ht 7: Buczkowski, Holder, Grajczonek, Tungate, 60.76 (33-11)

Ht 8: Sedgmen, Andersen, Newman, Nielsen, 61.85 (36-14)

Ht 9: Ellis, Kurtz, Wright, Tungate, 61.37 (41-15)

Ht 10: Doyle, Buczkowski, Watt, Sedgmen, 61.03 (44-18)

Ht 11: Holder, Grajczonek, Morris, Kurtz, 60.75 (47-21)

Ht 12: Ellis, Wright, Newman, Nielsen, 61.78 (51-23)

Ht 13: Holder, Doyle, Buczkowski, Morris, 60.79 (55-25)

Ht 14: Grajczonek, Andersen, Tungate, Watt (retired), 61.25 (57-29)

Ht 15: Buczkowski, Doyle, Andersen, Sedgmen, 61.00 (61-31)

ECHO STAR RIDER – ADAM ELLIS

THE race to be named Pirates’ trump card for 2016 is already hotting up – and Adam Ellis is a leading contender.

The former Lakeside man is set to spend the entire campaign at reserve and on the evidence of the meeting against Swindon, his bottom-two berth will be a great weapon for Poole.

Ellis blasted away from the tapes on a regular basis and capped his display with a swooping move around Charles Wright.

A first paid maximum in the Elite League was richly-deserved.