POOLE Pirates reserve Adam Ellis recovered from a rocky start to register five points in the first leg of the World Under-21 Final at King's Lynn on Saturday.

In a meeting that lasted beyond 11.30pm due to a series of crashes, Ellis missed out on the semi-finals after his final heat was one of many to be stopped.

Ellis himself had struggled early on, disqualified for a tapes offence and a fall in his opening two races before boosting his bid with three points from his next two rides.

That meant he would have nudged his way into the top eight with had he won heat 20 but a tangle at the back between Joel Andersson and Mikkel Anderson saw the race stopped.

In the re-run, Bartosz Smektala took the chequered flag and went through.

Jack Holder, brother of Pirates ace Chris, finished third with 13 points.

The next two rounds take place in Pardubice, Czech Republic on September 16 and Gdansk, Poland on October 2.