TEAM boss Gary Havelock admitted Pirates were “a little bit off at the moment” after his side’s 49-41 defeat at Edinburgh.

Poole have only won one of their past five meetings following defeat north of the border.

But with his side still inside the top-six play-off spots in the division, the former world champion insisted it would be all about peaking for the business end of the season later in the year.

Havelock said: “We are a little bit off at the moment but what I keep telling the boys is it’s not about now. It’s about peaking in September.

“We can get the guys to try to peak towards that and really go at it in the play-offs.”

The meeting had been tight at Armadale with Poole ahead by two points after 12 races.

But three heat advantages at the end, two of which involving key Edinburgh duo Sam Masters and Josh Pickering sealed the visitors’ fate.

Masters and Pickering went on to total 26+1 for the hosts between them.

Havelock added: “We had a bit of a run last year where we were going places away and riding really well until the last couple of heats.

“We did it at Redcar last year, we did it at Berwick and we’ve done it tonight.

“To be fair, their top two are sensational and I think that was all it was at the end. Those two were better than anybody that we had, unfortunately.

“We got what we deserved, really.”

Aussie charger Ben Cook, who totalled 8+2 from six rides back at reserve for Pirates, said: “It was a frustrating finish.

“It is a tough one to come to, especially for away riders and to go so close to getting a point – it kind of hurts a bit.

“But there is not much we can do about it. You’ve got to look forward now, get a win at Berwick and tomorrow is a new day.

“The best is yet to come for us. We kind of haven’t struck as a team of one-to-seven yet – when we do, we are unbeatable I could say.

“We just haven’t done that yet, so we have to do it this part of the season and at the end when the finals are coming.

“We have got to knuckle down now and get some points on the road.”

Pirates make the trip to Berwick tomorrow (7.30pm).