REACTION: SPIRITED PIRATES PRAISED BY SKIPPER

Pirates skipper Danny King heaped praise on the team spirit that has developed within the Poole side, after he steered the team to a 52-38 victory over defending champions Leicester.

"I have said it before but make no apology for repeating it, but it is so good to see how the whole team is bouncing off each other. Everything is flowing just fine right now. That's not to say we were really struggling before but things are a lot better all-round now and we are all looking forward to the Northern tour next week. It is great to be having more regular racing and it is through having race meetings that keeps you sharp. 

Turning his attention to his heat eleven battle with a former incumbent of his captain's position, Hans Andersen, King said "I take my hat off to Hans. We had a good hard battle out there and there was some hard riding but not a great deal of room but we knew the limits and he was fine about it afterwards." 

King had been ruthless in his quest to overcome the Lions' number one when they met in the re-run of heat 11. King had already felt the hardness of the track after clashing with Dan Thompson, the youngster deemed the cause of the fall and was disqualified. Lone Lion Andersen was sharp out of the gate in the re-start, but unperturbed by the events moments earlier, King set about trying to hit the front and found some space on the inside round the southern turn. He used it to his advantage and put the squeeze on Andersen, the latter having no option other than to ease off. King went on to take the flag as the Pirates claimed a 4-2 advantage that extended their lead to the eventual 14-point margin by which they took the meeting. 

That was King's second win on the bounce, having only dropped a point to Ryan Douglas in his heat four outing. But the Poole captain then went on to complete a solid night's work with victories in heats 13 and 15, both those heats being blessed with good speedway, as indeed was Leicester's consolation heat advantage, achieved in heat 14. From the traps it looked as though they might claim it with a 1-5 but both James Wright and Stefan Nielsen went by Zaine Kennedy on the opening lap. Having looked like saving the heat, Nielsen then lost control on the final lap and fell at the pits turn, allowing Kennedy back in for third place to support Kyle Howarth's sole race win, just one of three victories the hard working visitors could muster. 

The Pirates now head off for their first ever visit to Scunthorpe on Friday and will leave Dorset on the back of an unbeaten eight match sequence. 

POOLE - 52: D.King 14 (2,3,3,3,3), S.Worrall 11 (3,3,2,3,0), R.Schlein 10 (3,3,3,1), D.Hume 5+1 (0,3,1',1,F), J.Wright 5+1 (2',0,1,2), S.Nielsen 4+2 (1,2',1',F), D.Kemp 3 (0,3,0) 
LEICESTER - 38: K.Howarth 9+2 (2,2,1',3,1'), H.Andersen 9 (2,1,2,2,2), R.Douglas 8 (3,0,2,3,0), Z.Kennedy 5+2 (0,1',2,1',1), N.Morris 5+1 (0,1',2,2), J.Thompson 1 (1,0,0), D.Thompson 1+1 (1',0,XD)