NEIL Middleditch admitted Poole Pirates’ opening night victory over Swindon had been sullied by injuries suffered by three home riders.

Pirates began their Elite League title defence with a 47-33 victory at Blunsdon in a rearranged fixture abandoned after heat 13 due to a lack of medical cover.

Troy Batchelor, Lewis Rose and Adrian Miedzinski were all taken to hospital following heavy crashes, the meeting called to a halt after the latter’s spill.

Miedzinski’s smash caused the greatest concern with the Pole left with three broken fingers and a deep cut after his hand had become caught in his back wheel.

And Pirates team manager Middleditch revealed that victory had not tasted as sweet as usual following events at Blunsdon.

He told the Daily Echo: “It’s nice to win but not at the cost of the Swindon riders. There were some nasty crashes and Adrian Miedzinski has got an horrific hand injury. It was a shame that those injuries blighted the result.

“We were winning quite convincingly at the time of the final two crashes but it put a real dampener on the evening.

“There was no one to blame, they were just racing incidents that happened. I know Rosco (Alun Rossiter, Robins boss) is going to be up against it now and I wish the Swindon riders a speedy recovery.

“Looking on the positive side there were some good rides from the boys. I think everyone performed really well. We are in it to win it and that’s what we did.

“I think Troy Batchelor’s crash in heat three played a part in the result because he is one of their top riders. But looking at it from the Pirates end, we were very convincing.”

Poole reserve Kyle Newman was involved in a heat-12 collision with Rose, the Swindon charger subsequently excluded.

But while Rose sustained ankle damage, Newman escaped the incident unhurt.

Middleditch added: “Kyle is alright although his machine is looking very second-hand. He will be sore in the morning, I’m sure.

“He took a nasty knock but there was no lasting damage.”

It proved a profitable night for Pirates new boy Kacper Gomolski, who finished the meeting with a three-ride paid maximum, which included two race wins.

RIDERS' SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

ROBINS 33: Adrian Miedzinski (0-0-2-fx) 2, Kyle Howarth (3-1-2-2-0) 8, Nick Morris (fx-2*-4^-3) 9+1, Grzegorz Zengota (2-3-1- 1*) 7+1, Troy Batchelor - withdrawn, Lewis Rose (3-1*-1-0-x) 5+1, Charles Wright (1- 0-0-1) 2.

PIRATES 47: Chris Holder (2-0-3-2) 7, Josh Grajczonek (1*-3-3-0) 7+1, Dakota North (2*-3-x) 5+1, Kacper Gomolski (3-2*-3) 8+1, Maciej Janowski (3-1-3-1*) 8+1, Paul Starke (0-0-2*) 2+1, Kyle Newman (2-1- 2*-1-1-3) 10+1.

Heat one (re-run): Howarth, Holder, Grajczonek, Miedzinski, 67.47 (3-3)

Heat two: Rose, Newman, Wright, Starke, 67.84 (7-5)

Heat three (re-run x2): Janowski, North, Howarth, Morris (fell/dsq), 66.62 (8-10)

Heat four: Gomolski, Zengota, Newman, Wright, 68.30 (10-14)

Heat five: Grajczonek, Howarth, Rose, Starke, 67.96 (13-17)

Heat six: Zengota, Morris, Holder, Janowski, 67.27 (18-18)

Heat seven: North, Gomolski, Rose, Miedzinski (retired), 68.25 (19-23)

Heat eight: Grajczonek, Newman, Zengota, Wright, 68.02 (20-28)

Heat nine: Gomolski, Howarth, Newman, Rose, 68.93 (22-32)

Heat 10: Holder, Morris (tac), Zengota, Grajczonek, 67.58 (27-35)

Heat 11: Janowski, Miedzinski, Neman, Howarth, 67.90 (29-39)

Heat 12 (re-run): Newman, Starke, Wright, Rose (fell/dsq), 69.99 (30-44)

Heat 13: Morris, Holder, Janowski, Miedzinski (fell/dsq), awarded (33-47)