DARCY Ward lived up to his 'wonderkid' billing by producing a scintillating Pirates’ best 15 paid 17 point performance in their crushing 58-35 home triumph over Coventry last night.

Then he proclaimed his explosive racing partnership with Chris Holder, which gleaned Poole Castle Cover four 5-1s against the outclassed Bees, was “pretty cool.”

Ward quickly added, jokingly, in a centre green interview: “I think Chris is the only one in the team that looks for me (to see where I am during a race!).

“I was gating very good tonight, which is sometimes not me. I felt great.

“Now just bring on Monday and Belle Vue (where Elite League table-topping Poole visit in a Knockout Cup, quarter-final, first leg tie).”

Ward, who gained his ‘wonderkid’ tag after becoming the youngest rider to lift the World Under-21 crown last year, and Holder seem to have built up an almost telepathic understanding since linking up as Pirates’ number one and two in late April.

But they clearly stepped up another level in front of a bumper Wimborne Road crowd as Pirates put new-look Coventry to the sword as they made it 11 home league wins in a row this term.

Holder, who matched Ward’s tally of three race wins on his way to an unbeaten 13 paid 15, said: “I’m getting no trouble with my arm that was injured.

“I can’t feel anything wrong with it, which is good.

“Funnily enough, I didn’t feel I would perform any good tonight earlier today though, but I had a good one in heat one and then it was great after that.”

Unofficially, Holder actually ‘won’ four races, but referee Graham Flint messed up when he officially recorded Ward as the winner of heat 15.

Holder was clearly leading at the time the race was stopped after Bees duo Chris Harris and Przemyslaw Pawlicki had fallen and he should have been awarded the triumph, with Ward second.

Unofficially, it meant Holder really notched up 14 paid 15 and Ward 14 paid 17.

Not too big a deal you might think, but it is because riders’ averages are calculated without including bonuses, so it can affect where a rider can line up in the team in future matches.

It was a strange meeting during which start marshal Rob Wadham clearly signalled an apology to the ref for allowing heat nine to be contested over five laps, not the regulation four.

Poole’s Speedway Control Bureau recorder, or timekeeper, Trevor Hunter, confirmed he stopped his watch after four laps, declaring Bjarne Pedersen the winner in 60.98 seconds.

Hunter said he didn’t keep his stop-watch going as he witnessed the Dane going around the track one more time, hotly pursued by Krzysztof Kasprzak, Jason Doyle and Josh Auty.

Ironically, former Poole start marshal Bert Ball, now aged 94, was making a rare visit to Wimborne Road and witnessed a five-lapper.

Some older Poole fans in last night’s crowd felt the last time there had been five-lap race there was in the 1980s.

If you can remember watching a five-lap race at Poole before last night, please email phil.chard@bournemouthecho.co.uk with the details and we'll share your thoughts with the rest of our readers.

On a night of many mishaps, Pedersen, beaten only by Bees’ Chris Harris on his way to 13 paid 14, said: “Coventry had a strong team tonight, but we proved we are a strong team.

Pedersen, whose title favourites are a mighty 13 points clear of Wolves at the top, added: “We are good at the moment, but we need to keep focused.

“Other teams will become stronger now, but we are really pleased with how the team is going.

“Just look at tonight. Everyone is winning races. Everyone is trying to get into heat 15. That shows how strong we are.”

Pirates captain Davey Watt, who scored seven paid eight, said: “It was another very good performance by everyone in the team.

“We had a team talk before the meeting and said these guys (Coventry) have strengthened up. They will come with new tools, but we punished them and I’m really happy for everyone.”

Looking ahead to Poole’s cup trip to Belle Vue, Watt added: “We went there in May and won 55-36 in the league but they lost Hans Andersen and Peter Karlsson to injury in their first rides.

“We can’t expect that to happen again. We can’t expect another easy ride, but we’ll do everything we can to ensure we finish up on top”

Poole reserve Jason Doyle survived a nasty race eight fourth-bend fall unscathed after going down while scrapping for third with Coventry’s Ben Barker.

Doyle said: “I’ve had a few tumbles this year, but I’m over this crash and look forward to my next meeting.

“I swapped bikes after I had my crash. That one was working a lot better, so hopefully in my next meeting I can score more points (than the three I got tonight).”

Poole’s Leon Madsen opened with a race win and finished with two seconds on his way to seven paid eight. Sandwiched between were two ducks.

He said: “I was just tired from yesterday’s meeting in Sweden.

“We struggled with our set-up in the middle of the meeting and it was also a strong team we were racing against.”

Pirates 58: 1 Chris Holder (3-2*-3-3-2*) 13+2, 2 Darcy Ward (2*-3-3-2-2*-3) 15+2, 3 Bjarne Pedersen (2*-2-3-3-3) 13+1, 4 Rider replacement for Artur Mroczka, 5 Davey Watt (3-2-1*-1) 7+1, 6 Leon Madsen (3-0-0-2-2*) 7+1, 7 Jason Doyle (1-0-fell exc-1-1) 3. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Coventry 35: 1 Chris Harris (1-6^-3-2-fell exc) 12, 2 Ben Barker (0-1-1-0) 2, 3 Eddie Kennett (0-3-0-0) 3, 4 Lewis Bridger (1-1-1-0) 3, 5 Krzysztof Kasprzak (1*-1-2-0) 4+1, 6 Josh Auty (0-0-0) 0, 7 Przemyslaw Pawlicki (2-2-3-2-1^-1) 11. Team manager: Alun Rossiter.

Referee: Graham Flint.

Match points: Pirates 3 Coventry 0.

Ht 1: Holder, Ward, Harris, Barker, 58.39 (5-1).

Ht 2: Madsen, Pawlicki, Doyle, Auty, 59.50 (9-3).

Ht 3: Ward, Pedersen, Bridger, Kennett, 59.50 (14-4).

Ht 4: Watt, Pawlicki, Kasprzak, Doyle, 59.30 (17-7).

Ht 5: (re-run) Harris^ (tactical rider, double points), Pedersen, Barker, Madsen, 59.09 (19-14).

Ht 6: Ward, Holder, Kasprzak, Auty, 59.05 (24-15).

Ht 7: Kennett, Watt, Bridger, Madsen, 59.81 (26-19).

Ht 8: (re-run) Pawlicki, Ward, Barker, Doyle (fell excluded), 59.74 (28-23).

Ht 9: Pedersen, Kasprzak,, Doyle, Auty, 60.98 (32-25).

Ht 10: Holder, Ward, Bridger, Kennett, 60.03 (37-26).

Ht 11: Harris, Madsen, Watt, Barker, 60.54 (40-29).

Ht 12: Pedersen, Pawlicki, Doyle, Kennett, 60.32 (44-31).

Ht 13: Holder, Harris, Watt, Kasprzak, 60.36 (48-33).

Ht 14: Pedersen, Madsen, Pawlicki^ (tactical rider), Bridger, 60.97 (53-34).

Ht 15: Ward, Holder, Pawlicki, Harris (fell excluded), awarded, no time (58-35).

Last night’s other result, Elite League: Belle Vue 45 Wolves 45.