Poole 61 Wolves 32

The elation that followed Wolves’ victory over Poole on Monday evaporated last night in the return fixture as Wolves went down 61-32 at Wimborne Road.

Yet again the Monmore men’s weakness came at the starts, with the strong Pirates line-up continually outgating and outpacing their opponents. 

The travelling Wolves won just two races all evening, with David Howe tasting success in heat 4 after holding off Freddie Eriksson, and Niels Kristian Iversen’s tactical ride in heat 12 proving a success, although the result was a foregone conclusion by then.

These were among precious few bright spots for the Wolves, as the home side had the match all but sewn up by the halfway stage, leading by 20 points after heat 8.

There were few passing moves all night, although Freddie Lindgren caught and went inside Zibi Suchecki for third on the final lap of heat 11.

Christian Hefenbrock failed to beat an opponent all night to continue his recent lean spell, while Nicolai Klindt made an excellent start in the penultimate heat, only to be squeezed towards the fence by the Pirates pairing of Suchecki and Karol Zabik, the latter looking a different rider to that which appeared at Monmore on Monday.

Howe and Iversen were perhaps the liveliest of the visitors, with the England international passing Zabik in heat 9 and the Dane battling hard with Chris Holder two races earlier.

Points: Castle Cover Pirates: B Pedersen 2*-3-3-3-2* 13+2 (paid max), A Skornicki rider replacement, D Watt 1-3-3-2  9 , K Zabik 3-3-2*-1-2* 11+2, C Holder 1*-3-3-2*-3 12+2, Z Suchecki 3-0-2*-0-3 8+1, F Eriksson 2*-2-1-3-1-0 9+1.

Parry’s International Wolves: F Lindgren 1-1-1*-1 4+1, A Dryml  0-R-1-0-2  3, N K Iversen 2-2-2-6^-1, 13, K Hansen  rider replacement, D Howe 3-2-2-0-0 7, N Klindt 1-0-0-0-1-0 2 ,C Hefenbrock 0-0-1*-0-1 2+1.

Wolves’ performance last night was far from the perfect way for the side to prepare for the start of their Knockout Cup campaign,  at Ipswich tonight.

Wolves have a mixed history on the tight Foxhall Heath track, but the slick nature of the circuit means that the fastest gaters usually come out on top. 

The absence of Kenneth Hansen could mean a 2008 Wolves debut for number 8 Chris Neath.

The Witches will be once again led by the vastly experienced Chris Louis, while Polish trio Robert Miskowiak, Jarek Hampel and Piotr Swiderski present a formidable middle order.