PIRATES returned to winning ways and kept the heat on SGB Premiership leaders Somerset with a 54-36 victory against Swindon at Wimborne Road.

Three late 5-1s allowed Poole to pull away from Alun Rossiter’s side, who were hamstrung by the scoreless efforts of Polish racer Tobiasz Musielak and reserve Jack Smith.

Pirates were without Danish duo Nicolai Klindt and Frederik Jakobsen due to racing commitments in their homeland.

Rider replacement was utilised in place of the former while Ipswich’s Mark Riss guested for the latter.

Before the action got under way, a minute’s applause was held out of respect for New Zealand’s double world champion Ronnie Moore, who died on Saturday at the age of 85.

First blood went to Swindon with David Bellego and Troy Batchelor getting a 4-2 as all four riders hugged the inside line.

The third-place Riss almost blew a Poole heat advantage when he ran wide and was momentarily off balance but the German recovered.

Musielak blazed through the tapes next and went off 15m in the re-run, the Pole just unable to catch the third-place Richie Worrall.

Chris Harris got stuck behind Riss after missing the gate in heat four and by the time he got past, Nick Morris was out of sight.

Woryna swept round everyone in the first two turns en route to heat five success, claiming the notable scalps of Bellego and Batchelor with a lengthy measure of goggle tape trailing behind him.

Kurtz then bounced back from a disappointing first outing with a straightforward win, Morris swooping under Grajczonek for second.

Former Poole flier Adam Ellis picked himself out of the air fence to win a re-run heat seven after Musielak had been excluded for his part in the spill.

Pirates extended to six points their lead with a 4-2 in heat eight, a result which would have been a maximum had Bellego not forced his way past Riss after a hard-fought battle.

Swindon team boss Alun Rossiter threw in Batchelor for a tactical ride which paid off, Worrall trailing at the back with seemingly little power at his disposal.

And Musielak’s nightmare meeting continued when he went through the tapes for a second time and was replaced by reserve Smith. Kurtz and Grajczonek notched the first 5-1 in the re-run.

Harris kept his nerve in the face of fierce early pressure from Batchelor and Bellego but Ellis’s tapes-to-flag effort next closed to six points the gap.

A race-long pursuit of Batchelor by Harris ended with the Poole man sweeping round his rival in thrilling fashion on the final bend.

Worrall did superbly to force his way into second from fourth in heat 14 and Harris showed he was not winding down by battling past Batchelor in the final showdown.

RIDERS’ SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

Pirates 54: 1 Brady Kurtz (0-3-3-3-3) 12, 2 Josh Grajczonek (2-3-1-3-2*) 11+1, 3 Richie Worrall (1-0-0-2-2*) 5+1, 4 Nicolai Klindt r/r, 5 Chris Harris (2-2-3-2*-2*) 11+2, 6 Kacper Woryna (3-3-1*-2-0-3) 12+1, 7 Mark Riss, guest (1-1*-1-0) 3+1.

Swindon 36: 1 Troy Batchelor (1-1*-3-2-1-1) 9+1, 2 David Bellego (3-2-2-1*-0) 8+1, 3 Adam Ellis (2-3-1-3) 9, 4 Tobiasz Musielak (0-fx-0) 0, 5 Nick Morris (3-2-1-0) 6, 6 Zach Wajtknecht (2-0-0-1-1) 4, 7 Jack Smith (0-0-0) 0.

HT 1: Bellego, Grajczonek, Batchelor, Kurtz, 59.91 (2-4)

HT 2: Woryna, Wajtknecht, Riss, Smith, 61.00 (6-6)

HT 3 (re-run): Grajczonek, Ellis, Worrall, Musielak (tapes, 15m), 60.38 (10-8)

HT 4: Morris, Harris, Riss, Smith, 60.78 (13-11)

HT 5: Woryna, Bellego, Batchelor, Worrall, 61.03 (16-14)

HT 6: Kurtz, Morris, Grajczonek, Wajtknecht, 60.44 (20-16)

HT 7 (re-run): Ellis, Harris, Woryna, Musielak (fell/dsq), 61.28 (23-19)

HT 8: Grajczonek, Bellego, Riss, Wajtknecht, 61.53 (27-21)

HT 9: Batchelor (tac), Woryna, Morris, Worrall, 61.09 (29-25)

HT 10 (re-run): Kurtz, Grajczonek, Ellis, Smith, 61.10 (34-26)

HT 11: Harris, Batchelor, Bellego, Woryna, 60.46 (37-29)

HT 12: Ellis, Worrall, Wajtknecht, Riss, 61.32 (39-33)

HT 13: Kurtz, Harris, Batchelor, Morris, 60.75 (44-34)

HT 14: Woryna, Worrall, Wajtknecht, Musielak, 61.81 (49-35)

HT 15: Kurtz, Harris, Batchelor, Bellego, 61.53 (54-36)

ECHO STAR RIDER: CHRIS HARRIS

Bomber produced two of the best moves of the night – both of which were on Troy Batchelor.

The fans’ favourite recovered from an indifferent meeting at Somerset to get back in double figures, a feat achieved by no fewer than four riders.

Brady Kurtz reeled off four wins after a scoreless opening outing and Kacper Woryna and Josh Grajczonek also went big at Wimborne Road.

Grajczonek can feel much more positive about his form at a crucial time of the season – and Pirates will need him if they are to make an impression in the play-offs.