IT WAS about time Pirates settled their score with Belle Vue.

Prior to tonight, the Manchester outfit had been the only Elite League team not to suffer defeat at the hands of the reigning champions this year.

The Aces grabbed a draw in Dorset in April before adding two further victories at their tight and technical Kirkmanshulme Lane circuit, the latter of which came last week.

Eight points out of a possible 10 against Poole had been an enviable record but finally the purple patch of Mark Lemon’s side ended when Pirates blitzed to a 53-40 win.

Victory propelled the Wimborne Road outfit back to the top of the standings having completed two more meetings than Coventry, who travel to Swindon tomorrow and host Leicester on Friday.

And even though they may only occupy the summit on a temporary basis, Poole’s home success at least asked a question of the Bees and increased the pressure on their other play-off rivals.

Pirates began in fine style when Chris Holder squeezed past Max Fricke out of turn two, the home number one later easing beyond team-mate Dakota North for a comfortable 5-1.

Reserve Kyle Newman was at the peak of his powers with a jaw-dropping double manoeuvre in heat two which saw him first inch beyond Stefan Nielsen by the fence and then chop to the inside to overhaul Steve Worrall on turn three.

The home advantage increased to 10 points after Davey Watt and Maciej Janowski had blasted out of the traps, the pair finding matters remarkably straightforward following Craig Cook’s rapid decline.

Belle Vue were on a 5-1 in the early stages of the next encounter but Kacper Gomolski and Newman both stormed past Nielsen in tandem to prevent an Aces heat advantage, although Poole asset Josh Grajczonek was unbeatable out front.

North was given the verdict in heat five by referee Graham Reeve following his manful fightback from third, the Victorian deemed to have crossed the line a fraction ahead of the hard-charging Fricke.

That win worked against the hosts, though, as Aces star Matej Zagar was able to take a tactical ride and the Slovenian duly scorched to victory, with a third-placed finish from Scott Nicholls halving to five points the Pirates advantage.

A fine effort from Cook notched the Team GB international victory in heat seven, the Aces star surprisingly restricting skipper Janowski and Holder to second and third courtesy of a sharp start.

Belle Vue had just one heat advantage in the bank and despite their efforts to increase that total, Gomolski and Newman somehow emerged from a chaotic eighth contest in the top two positions, the latter making up two places for his two points.

Newman was then thrown in for a second straight ride and it proved a smart move with the Poole favourite firing out of the inside gate and taking the chequered flag.

However, the real race was behind the front-runner with North pushing Grajczonek right to the fence as he passed his compatriot, a move which the home rider later apologised for.

Pirates’ momentum was palpable and Janowski’s charge past Zagar meant that Poole boosted to 15 points their lead with four heats remaining, aided by Fricke’s struggles at the back.

North completed his flawless card when the action resumed after he got the better of Cook out of the second turn, before the visitors grabbed just their second heat advantage courtesy of Nielsen and Worrall.

Another followed in a lively heat 13 that was won by Scott Nicholls, who had previously experienced a miserable evening with one point in three outings.

However, Pirates all but snuffed out Belle Vue’s hopes of taking anything back to Manchester, albeit unconvincingly, when they suffered a 4-2 reverse in the penultimate clash.

Cook’s pass on Gomolski, who had made a late error, meant that only a 5-0 win in heat 15 would gain the Aces a point but no such result was forthcoming.

Janowski, so often an unstoppable force around his home track, took the honours with counterpart Gomolski third, while backmarker Zagar retired due to mechanical gremlins.

Meanwhile, Ben Morley is due to guest for Pirates at Lakeside a week tomorrow in place of the unavailable Paul Starke.

The Poole reserve will be absent as parent club Somerset are away to Edinburgh in the Premier League.

Morley has previous experience of the Purfleet circuit having ridden for Lakeside last year.

Pirates are next in action against visitors Swindon on Wednesday with Darcy Ward set to compete against his parent club.

RIDERS' SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

Poole Pirates 53: 1 Chris Holder (3-1*-1-0) = 5+1, 2 Dakota North (2*-3-2*-3) = 10+2, 3 Davey Watt (3-0-1-rtd) = 4, 4 Kacper Gomolski (2-2-3-2-1) = 10, 5 Maciej Janowski (2*-2-3-2-3) = 12+1, 6 Paul Starke (1-0-0) = 1, 7  Kyle Newman (3-1*-2*-3-2) = 11+2.

Belle Vue Aces 40: 1 Matej Zagar (1-6-2-1-rtd) = 10, 2 Max Fricke (0-2-0-rtd) = 2, 3 Craig Cook (1-3-2-3-2) = 11, 4 Josh Grajczonek (3-0-rtd-1) = 4, 5 Scott Nicholls (0-1-0-3) = 4, 6 Steve Worrall (2-1*-1-1) = 5+1, 7 Stefan Nielsen (0-0-1-3) = 4.

Elite League points: Poole Pirates 3 Belle Vue Aces 0.

Ht 1: Holder, North, Zagar, Fricke, 59.84 (5-1).

Ht 2: Newman, Worrall, Starke, Nielsen, 61.28 (9-3).

Ht 3: Watt, Janowski, Cook, Nicholls, 59.57 (14-4).

Ht 4: Grajczonek, Gomolski, Newman, Nielsen, 60.97 (17-7).

Ht 5: North, Fricke, Worrall, Starke, 60.28 (20-10).

Ht 6: Zagar (TR), Gomolski, Nicholls, Watt, 59.87 (22-17).

Ht 7: Cook, Janowski, Holder, Grajczonek, 59.56 (25-20).

Ht 8: Gomolski, Newman, Worrall, Fricke, 61.81 (30-21).

Ht 9: Newman, North, Nielsen, Grajczonek (rtd), 61.63 (35-22).

Ht 10: Janowski, Zagar, Watt, Fricke (rtd), 60.81 (39-24).

Ht 11: North, Cook, Holder, Nicholls, 60.50 (43-26).

Ht 12: Nielsen, Newman, Worrall, Starke, 61.03 (45-30)

Ht 13: Nicholls, Janowski, Zagar, Holder, 60.00 (47-34).

Ht 14: Cook, Gomolski, Grajczonek, Watt (rtd), 60.84 (49-38).

Ht 15: Janowski, Cook, Gomolski, Zagar (rtd), 60.09 (53-40).

ECHO STAR RIDER: DAKOTA NORTH

It was far from a gate-and-go special from the second-stringer who gave the home supporters plenty of entertainment and passes galore.

North was part of arguably the battle of the night when he locked horns with Max Fricke in heat five, the home rider throwing everything into the narrowest of victories.

And it was nerve-shredding stuff when North took Grajczonek to the fence in heat nine, albeit unintentionally.

A 12-point paid maximum was just reward for the Victorian, who was pushed hard by an explosive display from team-mate Kyle Newman.