Pirates second best in basement battle (From Bournemouth Echo)

Pirates second best in basement battle

12:10am Friday 11th September 2009 in

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PIRATES are staring a relegation play-off in the face after a dramatic late-meeting slump saw Belle Vue snatch a vital 46-44 victory in their battle against the drop at Wimborne Road last night.

And it was two Poole old boys – and both club assets at that – who hammered the nail in the coffin as Aces climbed above the Dorset side with a stunning victory.

Castle Cover Pirates, forced to use number eight James Holder after Steve Boxall suffered illness, held a four-point lead for most of a tight encounter.

But a 5-1 and 4-2 by Davey Watt, controversially allowed to guest for absent Jason Crump despite Poole’s protests to the BSPA ahead of the meeting that it was an illegal move, and Krzysztof Kasprzak in heats 13 and 15 amazingly turned the contest on its head.

Going into race 13, Pirates led 38-34, and although that lead was never convincing, they knew a 5-1 in their favour would put the match all-but out of Belle Vue’s reach.

It was Watt – who more than lived up to his pre-meeting promise that he was being employed to do a job against Poole – who gated in front.

Chris Holder and Hans Andersen had both been unbeaten going into that race, sharing six heat wins between them.

Unbelievably, though, Kasprzak also jetted out ahead of the Poole duo as Belle Vue made best use of the better gates at that stage.

There was nothing Andersen and Holder could do as Aces’ levelled at 39-39.

Bjarne Pedersen won heat 14 with a superb third-to-first burst to keep Poole’s hopes alive.

But Kevin Doolan – Belle Vue’s trump card at reserve – and James Wright barged inside Paul Fry on laps two and three to salvage a 3-3 for the visitors.

Then, after Aces had crucially won the toss to choose gate positions, Holder, Andersen, Watt and Kasprzak went into battle again in heat 15 to settle a riveting contest.

Pirates, who badly needed a win to stave off finishing bottom and having to go into a two-legged promotion-relegation play-off against the Premier League champions, still had a chance to redeem themselves.

Their hopes of pulling something special out of the bag at the 11th hour nose-dived, however, when Holder’s chain came off at the gate and he failed to get away from the tapes.

That left Andersen adrift of the lightning-gating Kasprzak and Watt, who tore into a 5-1 lead off the second bend.

Andersen dug deep to dive under Watt on the second lap, but by then Kasprzak was well into the distance.

The Pole, who along with Watt will have wanted to badly impress at Wimborne Road so they can earn a Pirates contract for next year, pulled a celebration wheelie as he took the chequered flag, the Aces’ 4-2 sealing their wily 46-44 triumph.

Defeat meant Poole dropped to the bottom of the league, with Belle Vue one point in front of them.

It means Pirates have to beat Peterborough at home on Monday by seven points or more, then hope Ipswich can do them a favour by beating Aces twice, or drawing twice, at Kirky Lane, also on Monday, and then September 28, to climb off the foot of the table.

Witches avoiding defeat in Manchester is probably not going to happen, though, so it looks like Poole will have to suffer the ignominy of winning a play-off against second-tier King’s Lynn or Birmingham to retain their Elite status in 2010.

Pirates, however, complained to British speedway’s authorities about Belle Vue’s use of Watt as a guest before last night’s meeting, with promoter Matt Ford labelling it a “ridiculous” decision that was clearly against league rules.

Poole believe Aces should only have been able to use a Premier Leaguer with an average up to six points as Crump, ironically, also a Pirates asset, had made it clear he was not going to be available for this fixture when he signed for Aces last month and so was withdrawing his services.

n Bournemouth Buccaneers have been drawn against Weymouth in the National League title play-offs semi-final and stage their home leg on September 24. There is no date for the second leg yet.

Pirates 44: 1 Hans Andersen (3-3-3-1-2) 12, 2 Joe Screen (2*-1-3-1) 7+1, 3 Leon Madsen (1*-0-0-3) 4+1, 4 Bjarne Pedersen (2-2-2-3) 9, 5 Chris Holder (3-3-3-0-ret) 9, 6 Paul Fry (3-fell exc-0-0-0) 3, 7 James Holder (0-0-ret) 0.

Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Belle Vue 46: 1 (guest) Davey Watt (1-3-2-3-1) 10, 2 James Wright (0-1-2-1*-1*) 5+2, 3 Patrick Hougaard (3-1*-2-1*) 7+2, 4 Rider replacement for Lubos Tomicek, 5 Krzysztof Kasprzak (2-2-3-2*-3) 12+1, 6 Richard Sweetman (1*-1*-0-0) 2+2, 7 Kevin Doolan (2-ret-2-1*-1-2-2) 10+1.

Team manager: Chris Morton.

Referee: Dale Entwistle.

League points: Pirates 0 Belle Vue 3.

Ht 1: Andersen, Screen, Watt, Wright, 59.84 (5-1).

Ht 2: Fry, Doolan, Sweetman, J Holder, 60.90 (8-4).

Ht 3: Hougaard, Pedersen, Madsen, Doolan (retired), 60.20 (11-7).

Ht 4: C Holder, Kasprzak, Doolan, J Holder, 59.60 (14-10).

Ht 5: Watt, Pedersen, Wright, Madsen, 60.10 (16-14).

Ht 6: Andersen, Kasprzak, Screen, Sweetman, 62.40 (20-16).

Ht 7: (re-run) C Holder, Doolan, Hougaard, Fry (fell excluded), 60.23 (23-19).

Ht 8: Screen, Wright, Doolan, J Holder (retired), 61.16 (26-22).

Ht 9: Kasprzak, Pedersen, Doolan, Madsen, 59.96 (28-26).

Ht 10: Andersen, Hougaard, Screen, Sweetman, 59.91 (32-28).

Ht 11: C Holder, Watt, Wright, Fry, 60.83 (35-31).

Ht 12: Madsen, Doolan, Hougaard, Fry, 60.41 (38-34).Ht 13: Watt, Kasprzak, Andersen, Holder, 60.66 (39-39).

Ht 14: Pedersen, Doolan, Wright, Fry, 61.47 (42-42).

Ht 15:Kasprzak, Andersen, Watt, Holder (retired), 60.34 (44-46).