PIRATES overcame a nerve-jangling opening night at Wimborne Road as they defied defeat to lift the Premiership Shield against 2018 Grand Final rivals King’s Lynn.

Pirates went down 46-44 in their first home match of the year, producing everything from the sublime to the sloppy to the scary and making hard work of a tie they had led by 10 points after Monday’s first leg.

On a tight night featuring nine 3-3s, Stars snatched victory at the death with a 5-1 from Robert Lambert and Erik Riss.

But Poole did the damage with a 50-40 win in Norfolk to triumph 94-86 overall.

The action was delayed after a tear was discovered in the fourth-bend air fence. And Stars immediately threatened to deflate Pirates’ lead, with wins from Riss and Kasper Andersen.

But Poole held on for 3-3s and Danish racer Nicolai Klindt bagged Pirates’ first home heat win of 2019 in race three.

Poole broke the deadlock in race four, with Brady Kurtz continuing his red-hot form from the first leg by leading partner Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen to a commanding 5-1 to put Pirates four up on the night.

Klindt jetted from the tapes to beat Robert Lambert and Riss in heat five, with Richie Worrall pushing the German all the way for third place.

Josh Grajczonek made it four straight race wins for Poole in heat six, leading home Thomas Jorgensen and Michael Palm Toft, before Kurtz triumphed ahead of Lewis Kerr and Proctor in heat seven.

Jakobsen rode a sublime opening turn to hit the front in race eight. But he then drifted too wide on the back straight, treating the Wimborne Road crowd to an impromptu wall of death along the kickboards.

He miraculously stayed upright but retired from the race, with Riss and Andersen romping to a 5-1 to level the match for the Stars at 24-24.

Worrall raced to his first win in heat nine, but Klindt was unable to complete a hat-trick of victories, finishing at the back.

Stars’ hopes of eating into Poole’s aggregate advantage suffered a blow in heat 10, when Kerr fell awkwardly on turn one, flipping over the high side of the bike.

He was excluded from the restart, but his King’s Lynn colleague Ty Proctor delivered the ride of the night to make up for his absence. First, he dived past Holder on turn four for second. He then powered past Grajczonek to snatch the win on the line by a wheel and keep the scores on the night level at 30-30.

British champion Lambert truly hit his stride, winning heat 11 ahead of Covatti and Kurtz.

Jakobsen then edged Poole two ahead, coolly holding on under huge pressure from Palm Toft to win heat 12, with the Stars man passing Klindt to limit Pirates to a 4-2.

Poole reserve Jakobsen was quickly called back into action when Kurtz was adjudged to have touched the tapes in heat 13.

Lambert and Jorgensen ensured Pirates paid handsomely by leaving Holder and Jakobsen trailing for a big 5-1, which put them 40-38 up on the night and cut Poole’s aggregate lead to eight.

Stars needed two 5-1s to snatch an aggregate draw, but their brief sniff of an upset was ended in heat 14.

Covatti and Worrall raced to a massive 5-1 over Kerr and Andersen as Wimborne Road breathed a huge sigh of relief and the Shield was sealed.

HEAT DETAILS

POOLE 44

1 Jack Holder (1*-0-1*-1) 3+2

2 Josh Grajczonek (2-3-1-2-1) 9

3 Nicolai Klindt (3-3-0-1) 7

4 Richie Worrall (0-0-3-2*) 5+1

5 Brady Kurtz (3-3-1*-T-0) 7+1

6 Nicolas Covatti (2-0-2-3) 7

7 Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen (1*-2*-R-3-0) 6+2

Team Manager: Neil Middleditch

KING’S LYNN 46

1 Robert Lambert (0-2-3-3-3) 11

2 Erik Riss (3-1*-3-0-2*) 9+2

3 Ty Proctor (1*-1*-3-0) 5+2

4 Lewis Kerr (2-2-X-1) 5

5 Thomas Jorgensen (0-2-1*-2*) 5+2

6 Michael Palm Toft (0-1*-2-2) 5+1

7 Kasper Andersen (3-1-2*-0) 6+1

Team Manager: Peter Schroeck

Referee: Tony Steele

Ht 1: Riss, Grajczonek, Holder, Lambert, 61.35 (3-3).

Ht 2: Andersen, Covatti, Jakobsen, Palm Toft, 62.08 (6-6).

Ht 3: Klindt, Kerr, Proctor, Worrall, 61.18 (9-9).

Ht 4: Kurtz, Jakobsen, Andersen, Jorgensen, 61.44 (14-10).

Ht 5: Klindt, Lambert, Riss, Worrall, 61.12 (17-13).

Ht 6: Grajczonek, Jorgensen, Palm Toft, Holder, 61.89 (20-16).

Ht 7: Kurtz, Kerr, Proctor, Covatti, 60.87 (23-19).

Ht 8: Riss, Andersen, Grajczonek, Jakobsen (ret), 62.90 (24-24).

Ht 9: Worrall, Palm Toft, Jorgensen, Klindt, 61.82 (27-27).

Ht 10: (re-run) Proctor, Grajczonek, Holder, Kerr (f.exc), 62.18 (30-30).

Ht 11: Lambert, Covatti, Kurtz, Riss, 60.51 (33-33).

Ht 12: Jakobsen, Palm Toft, Klindt, Proctor, 62.63 (37-35).

Ht 13: (re-run) Lambert, Jorgensen, Holder, Jakobsen, Kurtz (exc tapes), 61.35 (38-40).

Ht 14: Covatti, Worrall, Kerr, Andersen, 62.48 (43-41).

Ht 15: Lambert, Riss, Grajczonek, Kurtz, 61.82 (44-46).

ECHO STAR RIDER: NIKOLAJ BUSK JAKOBSEN

He may not have topped the Pirates scorechart, but Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen pulled out big rides when it mattered to ensure the first silverware of 2019 came to Dorset.

Despite a third in his opener, the Dane followed Brady Kurtz to a maximum in heat four and produced a massive win in race 12 to edge Poole ahead.

But his most unforgettable moment was his unplanned wall of death in race eight, when he somehow stayed upright, riding the back-straight kickboards to avoid disaster after drifting too wide.

On tonight’s evidence, Jakobsen has plenty to offer this year – provided he sticks to free scoring rather than free-styling.