HISTORY repeated itself as Scott Nicholls blew a big hole in Pirates' fading title hopes by driving the final nail in their coffin on Wednesday.

The Coventry kingpin outgated Poole pair Jason Crump and Bjarne Pedersen to take the chequered flag in heat 15.

That condemned the Dorset club to their first home defeat in over a year.

And no fair-minded fan in a 4,000 crowd at Wimborne Road could deny the rampant Bees didn't deserve their victory.

In truth their highly impressive performance should have been rewarded with a much bigger winning margin as they completely dominated off-key Pirates for four-fifths of the match.

It looked as though Coventry were home and dry when Nicholls drove hard under Pedersen on the last lap of heat 13 to give his side a commanding 44-33 lead. But just when Poole's fans had given up any hope of salvation, veteran Craig Boyce, as a tactical rider, and Jason Doyle pulled off a fantastic race 14 triumph to throw them a lifeline.

Unheralded Doyle jetted away from the tapes in front and Boycey was also quickly out of the traps as they led Martin Smolinski and Steve Johnston down the back straight.

Boycey steamed away to victory, while Doyle worked wonders to peg Smolinski behind him to get the 8-1 that gave Pirates an unexpected chance to get out of jail.

Nicholls, however, wasn't having any of it. Yes, Nicholls, the same rider who slowed up superbly on the last bend to help his partner pass Antonio Lind-back for third place and earn Coventry a 47-46 victory, instead of a 47-46 defeat, on August 31, 2005 at Wimborne Road.

That sensational manoeuvre, one of the best team-riding exploits ever seen in 60 years of racing on the Poole track, knocked Pirates out of the play-offs two years ago.

Last night, Nicholls was at his devastating best again.

This time he made sure the Dorset club couldn't complete a dramatic recovery from an 11-point deficit by preventing Crump and Pedersen getting the 5-1 that would have salvaged Poole a point.

Nicholls, off gate two, powered out of the traps to head the Pirates pair, and by the time Chris Harris drove under Pedersen on the third lap, it was already game over for Poole.

Coventry's win was their 14th league one in a row - a new Elite record.

It beat the previous best of 13 by Ipswich's treble-winning side of 1998 of which Nicholls was a part alongside Tony Rickardsson, Tomasz Gollob and Chris Louis.

In all, Coventry, with reserve Steve Johnston their trump card, have won 15 on the trot in league and cup and have not lost since Johnno's first appearance for them in a defeat at Peterborough on June 21.

That is title-winning form in anyone's book.

And if Pirates, as looks likely, do have to go to Brandon for a one-off play-off semi-final on September 17 at least six of their riders will have to step up another gear to give them any chance of achieving victory.

Maybe that seems harsh, particularly on the likes of Pedersen and Batchelor.

But it is the truth.