RELIEVED Neil Middleditch admitted Pirates’ thrashing of King’s Lynn had been the perfect tonic and revealed the Dorset side’s rapid gating had surprised even him.

Pirates earned their first win in a month and climbed to sixth in the SGB Premiership courtesy of a 58-32 hammering of a patched-up Stars team.

Although Linus Sundstrom top scored with a superb 11 paid 14, every rider chipped in on a night when the hosts banked seven 5-1s on a much-improved racing surface.

And Middleditch was delighted to see things click into place on home shale.

He said: “It was just what the doctor ordered. I said to the boys on the track walk, ‘you are the seven riders to get us to the play-offs and our season starts tonight’ – and what a great start it was.

“Everyone scored points and that’s a key factor. The reserves were very strong and they are a huge part of winning any meeting.

“You don’t have to have an out-and-out 15-point man if all the riders are doing their job. They all did that and then some.

“The boys were gating better and it even surprised me that they were making some gates!

“I’m happy for the boys and the fans. I’ve said time and again that we’ve got a good team and when we click we are good, and that’s what we did.

“I’m not going to pick anybody out. It was just a good team performance.

“King’s Lynn are having their own problems but you can only race what’s in front of you and the boys did their jobs.

“The track was good and it’s going to get better. They have packed it down and it rode really well. Hopefully, it will continue to produce good racing.”

Richie Worrall produced the ride of the night from a Poole point of view, stepping up brilliantly after Brady Kurtz had crashed in heat 13.

Worrall was up against Robert Lambert – who at that point had four wins from as many rides – and Stars number one Niels-Kristian Iversen.

And the St Helens-born charger recovered from third place early on to pass Lambert and then Iversen, sending the home supporters into raptures.

Reflecting on the whirlwind performance, Worrall said: “I really enjoyed that race. I put a lot into it, so I was a bit tired for heat 15.

“I haven’t had a feeling after a race like that for a while.

“I’m not enjoying number five – I don’t remember having one easy race!

“I had Robert in four of them and Niels twice but I think I’m holding my ground.”

Poole remain four points off the play-offs as a result of Somerset’s 49-41 win over visitors Wolverhampton.

Middleditch’s men are due to face the Rebels at the Oaktree Arena on Wednesday.