Ford: Sky have picked Pirates fixtures because of Hans (From Bournemouth Echo)

Ford: Sky have picked Pirates fixtures because of Hans

7:00am Friday 22nd January 2010

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MATT Ford believes Sky Sports chiefs have chosen to screen two early-season Pirates v Belle Vue fixtures because they expect fireworks from Hans Andersen against his former club.

The Dane, reluctantly loaned out by his parent club Peterborough to Poole last term, made a telling contribution to the struggling Dorset outfit as they narrowly avoided the Elite League wooden spoon.

But Andersen, despite being a big hit with Pirates’ fans, has been forced to leave the Wimborne Road set-up as he isn’t a Poole asset.

So he has joined Aces on loan and will spearhead their new-look side that also includes top Swede Peter Karlsson.

Andersen returns to Poole on May 3 in one of Sky’s eagerly anticipated live television meetings determined to show Pirates owner Ford exactly what he’ll be missing this year.

Ford, whose team visit Manchester on May 17 in another TV contest, said: “Sky have purposely picked these fixtures because they know Hans has a point to prove.

“He’s always good value in front of the cameras and they know he’ll want to impress against us.

“I’m impressed with Belle Vue’s line-up, but we also have a great team and in those two meetings we’ll be looking to show everyone around the country what we’re capable of doing.”

Ford, who gave Andersen his first British rides at Poole in 2001 before selling him to Panthers three years later, added: “Hans is an incredibly talented rider who has just |been at the wrong place at the wrong time regarding the points limit.

“In fact, I would have had Hans back as a heat leader in 2010 if the points limit had allowed it and he’d still been one of our assets. I still believe he can achieve more in this sport and who on earth can forget the days of him and Krzysztof Cegielski riding at number six and seven for Poole?”

Pirates, who have gone with Aussie big gun Chris Holder to spearhead their side, also visit Coventry in a Sky clash on April 12.

Ford said: “I’m very happy we’re on Sky three times inside the opening two months of the campaign.

“I’m particularly pleased for all our sponsors and our main team sponsor, Castle Cover, who’ll get a minimum of 18 hours TV exposure from those meetings if you include repeat showings.

“We’ve been picked away from home twice by Sky, so it means people are expecting us to be a good draw, both for TV audiences and for crowds inside stadiums when we go away.

“We were on Sky eight times in 2009 and 11 times the year before, so let’s hope with 30 weekly programmes we’ll be on at least 10 times this season.”

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