DANNY Ford admitted his frustration, despite Poole Pirates registering a victory in their Championship play-off semi-final first leg.

Trailing after eight heats, Pirates stormed back to win 48-42 against Leicester Lions, giving them a slender advantage ahead of Saturday's second leg.

However, it proved to be a battle throughout the night for Poole, struggling out the gate and having to scrap for every point as they preserved their unbeaten home record this term.

New number one Steve Worrall (12+1) and guest Zach Cook (10+1) starred for the hosts, with captain Danny King (5) having a rare off night at Wimborne Road.

Kyle Howarth (12) and Nick Morris (9+1) did much of the damage for the visitors, who will fancy their chances of overturning the six-point deficit at the weekend.

Discussing the first-leg victory, Poole promoter Danny Ford said: "I really don't know right now how I feel about it.

"It was a frustrating meeting and I think I probably need to digest it a bit to be honest.

"I felt that we should have come away with a bit more but we weren't at our best and we just weren't making the starts.

"Plain and simple, and the boys know that.

"But we've already gone there and won this season so it's all to play for and it should be one helluva meeting."

Pirates have ridden twice at Beaumont Park this season, winning 47-43 in the league before a 49-41 cup loss. Poole did however overturn that eight-point deficit with victory in the second leg to book their spot in the Knockout Cup final, the first leg of which could come next week against either Edinburgh Monarchs or Glasgow Tigers.