PIRATES continued their sublime SGB Championship form with a 48-42 victory over Edinburgh Monarchs at Wimborne Road.

Neil Middleditch’s men were led by number one Rory Schlein, who totalled 12 points from five rides, while Steve Worrall also reached double figures with 10 points.

The result meant Pirates extended to nine meetings in all competitions their unbeaten run.

Pirates went into the contest still without their own rider in the number two spot, with Dane Benjamin Basso set to join up with his new team later in the week.

Kyle Bickley was brought into guest once again for the Wimborne Road outfit.

The hosts also tracked Zach Cook at reserve as a guest in place of brother Ben, who remained out through injury.

Schlein led from the front for Pirates in a shared heat one. While he was well clear of opposite number Sam Masters, Bickley failed to get past Monarchs’ man William Lawson into third spot.

A spot of fortune then came the way of Pirates in the reserves’ heat. While Cook led from the gate, Danyon Hume pounced on a slip up from Luke Crang to pick up third and put Poole ahead.

Poole pressed on once again with Steve Worrall then leading from the gate, Stefan Nielsen was with him before Josh Pickering split the Pirates’ pair to seal second spot.

A thrilling battle then took place for the runner-up spot in race four. Despite coming under all sorts of pressure, Hume fended off the threatening Richie Worrall to seal a 5-1 for the hosts alongside race winner Danny King. That meant Poole led 16-8.

Steve Worrall then made it two wins out of two after leaving his rivals for dust in race five. Nielsen was third behind Masters as Poole extended to 10 points their lead.

Schlein then continued the hosts’ run of race wins in a premature end to in race six.

He was awarded the spoils ahead of Richie Worrall after Crang fell and the race was stopped in the interest of safety. Bickley picked up a point for third.

Skipper King then roared round the outside to take the chequered flag in a shared heat seven, before Hume joined the party in heat eight.

Poole’s rising star rider made light work of the competition to pick up his first race win of the night. Nathan Greaves just managed to seal second despite the challenge of Bickley.

Trailing by 14, the Monarchs made their tactical substitute in race nine when number one Masters was brought in for the struggling Crang.

And the move paid dividends for the Scottish side as Masters teamed up with race winner Richie Worrall to seal a 5-1 ahead of Steve Worrall and a trailing Nielsen.

Drama then ensued in heat 10 as Pickering took the race win ahead of Schlein, who came out to inspect bend two post-race after looking to have suffered some difficulty on lap three.

Kye Thomson was third as the Monarchs reduced to eight the gap between the sides. A track grading soon followed.

Monarchs’ number one Masters looked smooth out in front to win a shared heat 11 ahead of King and Cook.

But it was Steve Worrall who allayed any fears of a comeback for the visitors after leading from tapes to flag ahead of Thomson in race 12 – and with Hume in third for a 4-2, the home side were on the brink of victory.

Schlein showed his class to take the battle of the big guns in a level heat 13 – the British champion leading home Masters and Richie Worrall with King trailing at the back.

Pickering sealed his second win of the night in the penultimate heat, finishing ahead of Nielsen and Cook as the race was level.

The visitors did team up for a 5-1 in the finale through Richie Worrall and Masters, but it was not to matter as Pirates sealed a comfortable success on home shale.

Pirates: Schlein 12, Worrall 10, King 8, Hume 7+1, Cook 5+2, Nielsen 4, Bickley 2.