CO-PROMOTER Danny Ford admitted “repercussions may have to come” after Pirates were well beaten 52-38 at Ipswich.

Defeat meant a patched up Poole line-up remained bottom of Supporters’ Cup South Group – despite the efforts of skipper Josh Grajczonek, who top-scored for the visitors with 11 paid 12.

Ford told the Daily Echo: “It’s frustrating at the moment. We just seem to be struggling out from the start. Towards the end of the meeting we were almost matching them.

“The boys will know that we can’t have too many more performances like that – repercussions may have to come.”

Poole went into the contest without Brady Kurtz and Nicolai Klindt due to the pair having racing commitments in Sweden. They were replaced by birthday boy Scott Nicholls and Tobiasz Musielak as guests.

Team boss Neil Middleditch was also unavailable, meaning Garry May stepped in to fill his place.

The Witches stamped their authority on the contest from the outset by recording a maximum in the opening heat.

Richard Lawson led from the gate with former Poole star Chris Harris passing Richie Worrall for second in the opening lap – Worrall’s bike eventually packed up and forced him to retire on lap two.

And it got no better in heat two for the visitors as Cameron Heeps and Jake Allen led home Nico Covatti and Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen in the reserves’ contest.

Grajczonek opened Pirates’ account of heat wins in race three but with guest Nicholls at the back, the visitors remained eight points adrift.

The gap then extended to 12 points following heat four, as Ipswich duo Allen and Danny King dialled in another maximum.

Worrall again was forced to retire with Jack Holder passing Ipswich’s Krystian Pieszczek to seal second in heat five. But with David Bellego out in front, the hosts recorded another heat advantage.

Pirates seemed to have no answer for the Witches with Covatti and Musielak trailing the duo of Harris and Lawson in race six – extending the hosts’ lead to a staggering 27-9.

King led from the gate to triumph in a shared race seven and chalk up Ipswich’s sixth win of the night.

Despite a spectacular fall from Allen in heat eight which led to the air fence needing to be repaired, Lawson was on hand to secure his second race success of the evening.

It was proving not to be guest Musielak’s night for Pirates after he was forced to retire having led in heat nine. Luckily for the visitors, Covatti was on hand to take the chequered flag and ensure the spoils were shared.

It took until race 10 for the visitors to earn their first heat advantage and it came through Nicholls. He managed to lead from the gate ahead of Harris, with Grajczonek passing Lawson to earn a 4-2.

King took heat 11 for the Witches ahead of Holder – before Pirates’ guests teamed up to reduce the arrears in race 12.

Musielak led home Nicholls for a maximum ahead of Harris and Bellego.

Skipper Grajczonek secured his second victory of the night when he passed King and Pieszczek to seal a shared heat 13.

King capped his impressive meeting by triumphing in the fans’ nominated heat 14 ahead of Nicholls and Musielak.

And Grajczonek rounded off his performance with a third race victory in the final heat – seeing off the challenge of Heeps and Harris.

WITCHES 52: 1 Chris Harris (2*, 3, 2, 1, 1*) 9+2, 2 Richard Lawson (3, 2*, 3, 0, 0) 8+1, 3 Danny King (2*, 3, 3, 2, 3) 13+1, 4 David Bellego (1*, 3, 1*, 0) 5+2, 5 Krystian Pieszczek (2, 1, 2, 1*, ex/t) 6+1, 6 Cameron Heeps (3, 0, 1, 2) 6+1, 7 Jake Allen (2*, 3, F) 5+2. Team manager: Ritchie Hawkins.

PIRATES 38: 1 Jack Holder (1, 2, 2, 0, 0) 5, 2 Richie Worrall (R, R, 2, 0) 2, 3 Tobiasz Musielak (0, 1, R, 3, 1*) 5+1, 4 Josh Grajczonek (3, 1*, 1, 3, 3) 11+1, 5 Scott Nicholls (0, 2, 3, 2*, 2) 9+1, 6 Nico Covatti (1, R, 3) 4, 7 Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen (0, 1, 1*) 2+1. Team manager: Garry May. Referee: Tony Steele.

HT 1: Lawson, Harris, Holder, Worrall (ret), (5-1).

HT 2: Heeps, Allen, Covatti, Busk Jakobsen, (10-2).

HT 3: Grajczonek, Pieszczek, Bellego, Nicholls, (13-5).

HT 4: Allen, King, Busk Jakobsen, Musielak, (18-6).

HT 5: Bellego, Holder, Piesczek, Worrall (ret), (22-8).

HT 6: Harris, Lawson, Musielak, Covatti (ret), (27-9).

HT 7: King, Nicholls, Grajczonek, Heeps, (30-12).

HT 8: Lawson, Worrall, Busk Jakobsen, Allen (fell), (33-15).

HT 9: Covatti, Pieszczek, Bellego, Musielak (ret), 3-3, (36-18).

HT 10: Nicholls, Harris, Grajczonek, Lawson, (38-22).

HT 11: King, Holder, Heeps, Worrall, (42-24).

HT 12: Musielak, Nicholls, Harris, Bellego, (43-29).

HT 13: Grajczonek, King, Pieszczek, Holder, (46-32).

HT 14: King, Nicholls, Musielak, Lawson, (49-35).

HT 15: Grajczonek, Heeps, Harris, Holder, (52-38) (Pieszczek excluded/tapes).

ECHO STAR RIDER: JOSH GRAJCZONEK

Without the Pirates’ skipper’s three race wins, this could have been a much bigger margin of defeat for the visitors at Foxhall.

But, having scored 10 paid 12 against the Witches at Wimborne Road last week, Aussie Grajczonek continued his impressive form.

A shining light in a Pirates outfit which was well beaten – the Townsville-born charger totalled 11 paid 12 from his five rides.

Grajczonek recently revealed how a pair of broken fingers had made him battle through the early stages of the campaign. But with that now seemingly sorted, the best could still be yet to come from the Pirates star.