POOLE stepped up their SGB Premiership title charge with Nicolai Klindt storming to a nine-point maximum as they pummelled Leicester 43-23 in a rain-curtailed contest at Wimborne Road tonight.

With the Dorset side 20 points up by the interval, their clash with the division’s basement side was very much one-way traffic.

And Danish dynamo Klindt was directing it with one of his best Pirates performances to date.

The action was stopped just as heat 12 was about to get underway as a heavy rain shower picked up pace.

It was nature’s way of throwing in the towel on Lions’ behalf as Pirates looked set to complete a mauling, with former Leicester captain Klindt leading the way.

He opened his night with a commanding victory in race three, with Lions’ Stuart Robson rounding Poole’s Richie Worrall on bend three to deny the home side a maximum.

Klindt returned to the shale in race five to leave fellow countryman Hans Andersen trailing – his sole loss of the night.

Klindt and Worrall finally shared a 5-1 at the third attempt in heat nine, with the former clearing off for a third time.

Worrall was lucky to stay second after picking up some unwanted drive and nearly losing control on lap two, bend two as he headed lacklustre Leicester riders Scott Nicholls and Connor Mountain.

Poole’s opening pair Brady Kurtz and Josh Grajczonek also impressed, with only Andersen getting the better of them with an outstanding start and victory in race one.

The Aussie duo hit back with maximums in races six and 10 as Kurtz dropped just one point on another dominant night at Wimborne Road, while Grajczonek showed signs of hitting his best form on eight paid 11.

Polish reserve Kacper Woryna started the night piling up the points for Poole, cruising to a convincing victory in the reserves race before leading colleague Chris Harris to Pirates’ first 5-1 in heat four.

He was unable to keep the run going in heat eight, just about staying upright on lap two when he came to grief on bend one, while Grajczonek dominated proceedings at the front.

Andersen was by far Lions’ best performer, scoring eight points from three outings as he offered his old club a timely reminder of his talents around Wimborne Road.

Heavy rain struck as race 11 got underway, with referee Dave Robinson hitting the red lights with riders at the tapes for heat 12, sending Worrall, Woryna and their Lions rivals back to the pits.

The action was abandoned with Pirates claiming a well-deserved three points.

A few frustrated boos rang out from the Wimborne Road terraces, but after a season of track turbulence at Poole, neither side seemed willing to risk men or machines with the result virtually decided.

STAR MAN - NICOLAI KLINDT

THOSE who feared the Danish dynamo could only rack up big scores at reserve were proved wrong as Klindt truly lead his side’s cruise to victory.
None of the Lions contingent could stand in the way of his nine-point maximum – they didn’t get the chance to.
His razor-sharp gating left them for dead, leaving partner Richie Worrall to do all the hard work behind him.
More of the same as the season reaches its climax will do Pirates’ play-off hopes the world of good.

RIDER SCORES

PIRATES 43: 1 Brady Kurtz (2-3-3) 8, 2 Josh Grajczonek (1*-2*-3-2*) 8+3, 3 Richie Worrall (1-1-2*) 4+1, 4 Nicolai Klindt (3-3-3) 9, 5 Chris Harris (2*-2-1*) 5+2, 6 Frederik Jakobsen (1-0-2) 3, 7 Kacper Woryna (3-3-0) 6.

LEICESTER 23: 1 Hans Andersen (3-2-3) 8, 2 Ricky Wells (0-0-1*-0) 1+1, 3 David Bellego (0-3-1) 4, 4 Stuart Robson (2-1-0) 3, 5 Scott Nicholls (0-1-1) 2, 6 Connor Mountain (2-0-0) 2, 7 Jake Allen (0-1-2) 3.

HEAT DETAILS

Ht 1: Andersen, Kurtz, Grajczonek, Wells, 59.46 (3-3).
Ht 2: (re-run) Woryna, Mountain, Jakobsen, Allen, 59.71 (7-5).
Ht 3: Klindt, Robson, Worrall, Bellego, 59.78 (11-7).
Ht 4: Woryna, Harris, Allen, Nicholls, 59.50 (16-8).
Ht 5: Klindt, Andersen, Worrall, Wells, 59.53 (20-10).
Ht 6: Kurtz, Grajczonek, Nicholls, Mountain, 60.00 (25-11).
Ht 7: Bellego, Harris, Robson, Jakobsen, 60.53 (27-15).
Ht 8: Grajczonek, Allen, Wells, Woryna, 60.68 (30-18).
Ht 9: Klindt, Worrall, Nicholls, Mountain, 60.65 (35-19).
Ht 10: Kurtz, Grajczonek, Bellego, Robson, 60.87 (40-20).
Ht 11: Andersen, Jakobsen, Harris, Wells, 60.44 (43-23).
 
Points: Poole 3 Leicester 0.
Last night’s results: King’s Lynn 49 (Niels-Kristian Iversen 11+1) Belle Vue 41 (Max Fricke 16), King’s Lynn 3 Belle Vue 0. Swindon 55 (Zach Wajtknecht 11+2) Leicester 35 (Hans Andersen 12), Swindon 3 Leicester 0. Somerset v Wolverhampton postponed.