POOLE Pirates ensured Andreas Jonsson’s return to Wimborne Road was a miserable one with a home victory that maintained their perfect start to the Elite League campaign.

Grand Prix star Jonsson had not appeared on Pirates shale in seven years and although billed pre-meeting as one of the star attractions, the Swede was unimpressive.

Maciej Janowski, Kyle Newman and Chris Holder hogged the limelight with double-figure hauls for the reigning champions, while Dakota North was unfortunate to total only five paid six despite a gutsy and entertaining effort.

Victory meant Pirates had plundered a maximum seven points from two meetings and underlined their credentials for a third straight top-flight title.

And Neil Middleditch’s septet will head to Coventry on Friday in confident mood following their latest success.

Pirates soured Jonsson’s evening early on with a gate-and-go victory that was in little doubt after lap two.

Recent returnee Josh Grajczonek roared away from the tapes and with Holder initially fending off Jonsson behind him, the Aussie pair cruised in for a comfortable 5-1, Holder stealing the win on the home straight.

A slow start to the first reserves’ race did not appear to hinder Newman unduly as the Poole-born charger – off the back of a nasty spill at Swindon on Monday – nipped past Adam Ellis on turn two of lap two.

The Hammers hit back in a nip-and-tuck third outing, memorable for a nerve-shredding battle between Richard Lawson and home skipper Janowski.

Lawson, who had nailed a paid maximum against King’s Lynn six days earlier, twice shut the door wide on turn four as the Pole tried to round him.

There was little doubt over the outcome of heat four after Edward Kennett had powered through turns one and two, the shared heat leaving Pirates 14-10 up.

But the Hammers soon levelled matters when Kim Nilsson and Ellis made Grajczonek and Paul Starke pay for a sluggish gate.

Another maximum swiftly followed. Pirates winter recruit North restrained Jonsson until the final lap, when the captain slipped through and North, pushing hard to hit back, slid into the air fence with two turns left.

The home side needed a shot in the arm and Holder duly provided it, blocking the impatient Edward Kennett throughout heat seven as the fast-gating Janowski did the business out front.

Newman and Kacper Gomolski then delivered the fourth 5-1 in a row in the face of a weak challenge from Nilsson and Ellis, a maximum which restored Pirates’ lead.

Led by Grajczonek, Pirates were more aggressive in the first turn of heat nine and seized an advantage that they never relinquished, with Kennett’s challenge coming too late to make an impression, while Ellis failed to complete the race.

Much to the delight of the home support, North finally got the reward his efforts had deserved next time out. As Janowski again flew out of the gate, North tailed on the back wheel of previous nemesis Jonsson throughout before ripping round the boards to overhaul the Hammers number one in the final two turns.

Holder was once again in mercurial form in heat 11, the former world champion storming away from Mikkel Bech out of turn two and with Lawson’s tactical ride only yielding four points, Poole kept the Hammers heat advantage down to just 5-3.

Ten points in front with four outings left, Pirates kept their opponents at arm’s length in a re-run heat 12, Newman once more proving himself the class act of the reserves on show.

Despite clearly jumping the start in heat 13, Lawson was not penalised by referee Christina Turnbull and Lakeside’s brightest spark made no mistake, although a shared contest did not cut into the home advantage.

The penultimate race was a blanket affair in the first two turns but somehow North and Gomolski barged their way to the front, ensuring three league points in the process.

North’s evening came to an end when he fell in heat 15 but it mattered little as Janowski made yet another jet-propelled gate to blast away from Lawson and Jonsson.

Meanwhile, Belle Vue’s Stefan Nielsen has been drafted in to guest for Pirates in their trip to Coventry on Friday, replacing Starke who is set to ride for Somerset.

STAR RIDER – CHRIS HOLDER

Not the highest scorer of the evening but showed bags of class, particularly in his first two rides.

The 2012 world champion drew on his considerable powers to block the hard-charging Andreas Jonsson and Edward Kennett in successive heats.

Holder rode two good turns to win heat 11 and nearly did the same in heat 13, seemingly denied victory by a rolling start from Richard Lawson.

RIDERS’ SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

Pirates 53: 1 Chris Holder (3-2*-3-2) 10+1, 2 Josh Grajczonek (2*-1-3-0) 6+1, 3 Dakota North (0-f-2*-3-fx) 5+1, 4 Kacper Gomolski (2-1-2*-2*) 7+2, 5 Maciej Janowski (2-3-3-1*-3) 12+1, 6 Paul Starke (1-0-0) 1, 7 Kyle Newman (3-1*-3-2*-3) 12+2. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Hammers 39: 1 Andreas Jonsson (1-3-1-0-1*) 6+1, 2 Kim Nilsson (0-3-1-0) 4, 3 Mikkel Bech (1-0-1*-1) 3+1, 4 Edward Kennett (3-1-1-0) 5, 5 Richard Lawson (3-2*-4^-3-2) 14+1, 6 Adam Ellis (2-2*-0-r-2) 6+1, 7 Ashley Birks (0-0-1*) 1+1 . Team manager: Neil Vatcher.

Ht 1: Holder, Grajczonek, Jonsson, Nilsson, 60.68 (5-1)

Ht 2: Newman, Ellis, Starke, Birks, 60.72 (9-3)

Ht 3: Lawson, Janowski, Bech, North, 60.97 (11-7)

Ht 4: Kennett, Gomolski, Newman, Birks, 60.75 (14-10)

Ht 5: Nilsson, Ellis, Grajczonek, Starke, 60.72 (15-15)

Ht 6: Jonsson, Lawson, Gomolski, North (fell/dsq), 60.31 (16-20)

Ht 7: Janowski, Holder, Kennett, Bech, 60.34 (21-21)

Ht 8: Newman, Gomolski, Nilsson, Ellis, 61.03 (26-22)

Ht 9: Grajczonek, Newman, Kennett, Ellis (retired), 61.03 (31-23)

Ht 10: Janowski, North, Jonsson, Nilsson, 60.66 (36-24)

Ht 11: Holder, Lawson (tactical), Bech, Grajczonek, 60.97 (39-29)

Ht 12 (re-run): Newman, Ellis, Birks, Starke, 61.97 (42-32)

Ht 13: Lawson, Holder, Janowski, Jonsson, 60.59 (45-35)                              

Ht 14: North, Gomolski, Bech, Kennett, 61.60 (50-36)

Ht 15 (re-run): Janowski, Lawson, Jonsson, North (fell/dsq), 60.97 (53-39)