IF football is a game of two halves, then Pirates' thumping of Wolves last night is surely a telling tale of 48 hours.

After enduring a nightmare Elite League opener at Monmore on Monday, crashing to a demoralising 54-36 reverse in the Midlands, Poole Castle Cover proved why they are up on top of the bookies' lists by doubling Wolves' disappointing haul at Wimborne Road.

And if ever a script were written, performed and labelled straight to video in just one minute, Bjarne Pedersen's sublime pass outside of under-par Swede Freddie Lindgren to finish second behind Karol Zabik in heat one was it.

It hasn't been an easy few weeks for Pirates' number one, but, typically for Wimborne Road's quiet man, he let the critics carry on ranting and did his talking on the shale.

Not that Pedersen, now he has finally struck gold, is likely to be out on his own in terms of scoring this season like many of those before.

This time he has two reserves, a Polish second string and a young Aussie breathing down his neck for the bragging rights.

The hard-riding Karol Zabik gated like he'd been storming around Wimborne Road for nearly all of his 21 years in romping to an impressive 11 paid 13 return from five rides last night.

The former world under-21 champion showed his battling qualities in heat three when he held off the attentions of Danish GP star Niels-Kristian Iversen to bank his second win of the evening - and the fastest time by a Poole rider at home this season.

In Freddie Eriksson and Zibi Suchecki, meanwhile, Pirates chief Matt Ford must have been beaming from ear-to-ear as the duo racked up an impressive paid 19 between them.

The duo played their parts as, added to Zabik's heat one victory, they tallied paid eight as rider replacement for the injured Adam Skornicki.

Laid-back Pole Suchecki, in for Skornicki in heat eight, caught the dirt line and burst around the outside on the opening lap to slot in behind Eriksson as Pirates eased to yet another 5-1.

And although Eriksson trailed back in fourth as tactical rider Iversen notched double points in heat 12, Davey Watt's precision pass on Nicolai Klindt, to limit what looked to be a sure-fire 8-1 to 7-2, didn't fit in with the Australian's overly-critical assessment of his performance.

Heat 13's line-up promised to be a cracker on paper and didn't fail to disappoint the chilly Pirates faithful, with the magical Pedersen slicing up the inside on the first turn to take the lead.

And Holder soon got in on the action, edging out Lindgren on the second lap to cross the line behind the Dane for maximum heat points, with David Howe trailing at the back.

Suchecki and Zabik then pulled off arguably the move of the night when they squeezed between Klindt and Christian Hefenbrock on the first lap of the penultimate heat, before Holder and Pedersen completed a memorable evening by roaring to a 5-1 against Howe and Iversen in heat 15.