Poole down Eagles

The Pirates spearhead, who has been suffering from a sinus infection, showed he had pushed that illness aside again by leading Poole Meridian Lifts to a 49-41 victory over the Eagles.

It was his spectacular heat 13 third-to-first place burst that had the fans on the terraces and the grandstands talking as they left Poole Stadium after last night's Craven Shield clash.

Rickardsson dug deep again to demonstrate why he is on the verge of a fifth World title this year with a brilliant ride after being outgated by Eagles star Mark Loram.

Pirates went into heat 13 only six points ahead after two David Norris-inspired race advantages in heats nine and 10 had cut back Poole's 10-point lead.

That meant Pirates couldn't afford any slip ups as Rickardsson, Loram, Bjarne Pedersen and Dean Barker went to the tapes.

An Eagles advantage would have given them a real chance of at least salvaging a draw and denting Poole's hopes of retaining the Craven Shield they won last year.

It looked bad for Rickardsson when Loram, off gate two, got away from him once the tapes went up and the Swede emerged out of the second bend in third place.

Loram was behind surprise leader Pedersen, who had hogged the white line on bends one and two, going down the back straight.

But the Eastbourne rider scorched outside the Dane to take the lead on the fourth bend.

With Rickardsson third at that stage, his chances of victory looked remote.

But you can never write off the Swede and he went under Pedersen, who probably let him through, on the fourth bend of the second lap before giving chase to Loram. Rickardsson had a lot of ground to make up on the Eagle, but he had latched on to Loram's back wheel by the third bend of the third lap.

Then the Swede dived superbly under Loram on the fourth bend third time round to take the lead and go on to complete his fifth race win of the night.

Rickardsson's triumph earned him a standing ovation - not for the first time at Wimborne Road this summer.

And it also earned high praise from Poole team manager Neil Middleditch.

He said: "That race was worth the admission price alone. It was a tremendous ride by Tony.

"Bjarne made a good start, but Tony had lots more power and Bjarne let Tony by to have a go at Mark.

"It was another memorable race, worth the money to come in on its own. But Tony has a habit of doing that."

Rickardsson's triumph, coupled with Pedersen's third place and the 4-2 secured by Poole, finally ended Eastbourne's hopes of leaving Wimborne Road with a draw.

It was the pivotal heat in Pirates' victory and gives them an outside chance of protecting their eight-point lead in the battle for the bonus point at Arlington on Saturday, October 5.

If Rickardsson, who took the Daily Echo's rider-of-the-night-award, was simply sensational, all the other Pirates, with the exception of Lars Gunnestad, performed well. Hans Andersen reeled off two heat wins on his way to 11 points and Pedersen got five after a poor start.

Reserves Henka Gustafsson (eight) and Andre Compton (three paid five) both did a good job, while Gunnestad, following an opening heat win in race three, slipped off the pace later on to get four paid five.

Middleditch said: "Tony was great but it was a good team performance all round. The reserves Henka and Andre did particularly well. I keep saying it, but the reserves always have a major bearing on which way a meeting goes.

"They scored paid 13 points between them and that wins you meetings. Lars had a poor meeting but everyone else did well and that made the difference. They all covered for Lars, who had bike problems."

Rickardsson is rarely beaten at Wimborne Road these days, but his wins over Loram will have tasted particularly sweet.

Loram, the ex-Pirates number one, had beaten the Swede three times on his previous visit to Poole on August 28.

So to show Loram his back wheel three times last night, and the second time in such a spectacular fashion, will have pleased the Poole man.

Pirates' victory also lifted them straight to the top of the south group qualifying table before they travel to Oxford tomorrow for their second match.

The team that finishes top of the section will qualify for the three-team, three-meeting, final, which Poole won last season.

Poole's other match in the group is at home to Oxford next Wednesday (Sept 25).

Heat Details Pirates: 1 Rider replacement for Gary Havelock (injured), 2 Bjarne Pedersen (0-0-2-2-1_ 5, 3 Hans Andersen (2*-2-3-1-3-0) 11+1, 4 Lars Gunnestad (3-1*-0-0-0) 4+1, 5 Tony Rickardsson (3-3-3-3-3-3) 18, 6 Henka Gustafsson (3-1-1-3) 8, 7 Andre Compton (ret-2*-1*-0) 3+2. Team manager: Neil Middleditch. Eastbourne: 1 Mark Loram (2-3-2-2-2-2) 13, 2 Stefan Andersson (1*-0-0-0) 1+1, 3 Joe Screen (1-2-3-1-2-1*) 10+1, 4 David Norris (exc tapes-0-3-3-1*) 7+1, 5 Dean Barker (1-1*-2*-0) 4+2, 6 (guest) Henning Bager (1*-0-1*) 2+2, 7 Adam Shields (2-0-2) 4. Team manager: Olli Tyrvainen. Referee: Mick Posselwhite. Ht 1: Rickardsson, Loram, Andersson, Pedersen, 58.78 (3-3). Ht 2: Gustafsson, Shields, Bager, Compton (fell, re-mounted, retired), 60.71 (6-6). Ht 3: Gunnestad, Andersen, Screen, Bager, Norris (excluded tapes), 60.56 (11-7). Ht 4: Rickardsson, Compton, Barker, Shields, 60.26 (16-8). Ht 5: Loram, Andersen, Gunnestad, Andersson, 60.33 (19-11). Ht 6: Andersen, Loram, Barker, Pedersen, 60.32 (22-14). Ht 7: Rickardsson, Screen, Gustafsson, Norris, 60.22 (26-16). Ht 8: Screen, Pedersen, Compton, Andersson, 61.75 (29-19). Ht 9: Norris, Barker, Andersen, Gunnestad, 61.00 (30-24). Ht 10: Norris, Pedersen, Screen, Gunnestad, 61.53 (32-28). Ht 11: Rickardsson, Loram, Gustafsson, Andersson, 60.75 (36-30). Ht 12: Andersen, Screen, Bager, Compton, 61.73 (39-33). Ht 13: Rickardsson, Loram, Pedersen, Barker, 60.84 (43-35). Ht 14: Gustafsson, Shields, Norris, Gunnestad, 61.91 (46-38). Ht 15: Rickardsson, Loram, Screen, Andersen, 60.56 (49-41).