POOLE promoter Danny Ford has hailed summer signing Tom Brennan for showing “such superb form” in his first meetings as a Pirate.

Brennan was once again a star turn despite Pirates losing out away to Oxford Cheetahs on Wednesday night, a hotly contested BSN Series meeting ending 45-44 in favour of the hosts.

The former Glasgow Tiger led the way with 14 on the night, dropping just one point from his five rides.

It was the third meeting in a row on the road where Brennan reached double-figures, following hauls of 11 points and 10 points against Edinburgh and Berwick respectively.

Ford shared: "Tom is in such superb form at the minute and riding with so much confidence and ability.

“He is winning races that you wouldn't expect him to, and he is doing it the hard way, with some tenacious riding.

“His win over Sam Masters in heat 10 was sublime – ‘speedway from the top drawer’.”

Despite losing top spot to Oxford in their BSN Series group, Pirates picked up an aggregate point and know that an aggregate victory over Plymouth Gladiators in their final two meetings of the group stage would secure first place.

"We didn't quite manage to pull off the win but we all knew it was going to be a tough place to come and get a result,” continued Ford.

“Just last week here, they turned over Glasgow in the Knockout Cup after being 12 points down from the first leg, so to run them as close as we did was a credit to the team as a whole and the meeting really came alive in the second half."

Pirates return to action next week, when they welcome Workington Comets to Wimborne Road on Wednesday, May 15 in their first home game of the league campaign.