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Lakeside Hammers 48, Poole Pirates 45

HAMMERS capped a busy week with a morale-boosting Elite League victory at the end of an exciting evening.

Hotly-tipped Poole arrived full of determination and their skipper Bjarne Pedersen signalled their ambitions with a from-the-back win over Leigh Lanham in heat one.

Both sides exchanged advantages early on before the Hammers strung together a brace of heat winners, forging a fourteen point lead at the turn amid some classic encounters.

Lubos Tomicek enjoyed one of his best home performances to date with a paid thirteen haul, the highlight of which came in heat four when he combined with Jonas Davidsson for a 5-1.

The duo trailed early race leader Freddie Eriksson - going it alone after Chris Holder had crashed out in the first running - before passing him and holding off the subsequent return challenge in a classic speedway race.

Eriksson was in the action again in heat seven when he was knocked off on the first corner by team-mate Davey Watt, earning a first-turn exclusion for his trouble as the Hammers took a 4-2 in the re-run.

Joonas Kylmakorpi's startline engine failure in heat nine left Adam Shields to fight a lone battle against a resurgent Chris Holder - and Pirates' comeback gathered momentum when Watt defeated Lanham in heat ten with guest Chris Louis trailing.

Pedersen's triumphant turn as a tactical rider in heat eleven kept the comeback going, this after guest Cameron Woodward had been excluded for unfair riding on Tomicek.

The Hammers' 14 point lead became a distant memory as the Pirates continued to prove difficult to break down - and a major incident occurred in heat twelve to keep things in the balance.

Watt had ridden a superb race to put himself in a position to pass race leader Adam Shields, diving inside on the final turn as Shields tumbled to the ground.

With the meeting in the balance and the momentum firmly back with the Pirates, Louis popped from the inside gate to beat Pedersen and rack up a crucial 4-2 thanks to Davidsson's hard scrap for third over Chris Holder.

Holder made quick amends to set up the decider when he and Eriksson combined for a 4-2 in heat fourteen, leaving them to race for the important 5-1 that would see them take the points.

As nerves settled, Louis and Shields rocketed from the tapes - only for Louis to be brought back for moving at the gate. At the second time of asking, Holder broke clear as both Hammers appeared to get caught up on the first corner. They both recovered to hold on for the minor placings and ensure that the Hammers collected the league points.

Hammers: 1. Chris Louis 8; 2. Leigh Lanham 8+2; 3. Adam Shields 8+1; 4. Joonas Kylmakorpi 1; 5. Jonas Davidsson 8+1; 6. Ricky Kling 3; 7. Lubos Tomicek 12+1.

Pirates: 1. Bjarne Pedersen 11; 2. Cameron Woodward 5; 3. Davey Watt 11; 4. Rider Replacement. 5. Chris Holder 10; 6. Freddie Eriksson 7+1; 7. Andrew Bargh 1.

Heat-by-heat:

1: Pedersen, Lanham, Woodward, Louis (2-4) (2-4) 59.5

2: Tomicek, Eriksson, Kling, Bargh (4-2) (6-6) 59.2

3: Watt, Shields, Woodward, Kylmakorpi (2-4) (8-10) 58.8

4: Davidsson, Tomicek, Eriksson, Holder (fell exc) (5-1) (13-11) 59.7

5: Shields, Woodward, Kylmakorpi, Pedersen (4-2) (17-13) 58.6

6: Louis, Lanham, Holder, Bargh (5-1) (22-14) 59.6

7: Davidsson, Watt, Kling, Eriksson (fell exc) (4-2) (26-16) 59.2

8: Tomicek, Lanham, Woodward, Eriksson (5-1) (31-17) 59.3

9: Holder, Shields, Bargh, Kylmakorpi (ret) (2-4) (33-21) 58.9

11: Pedersen (tactical ride), Tomicek, Davidsson, Woodward (exc unfair riding) (3-6) (38-31) 58.6

12: Watt, Eriksson, Kling, Shields (fell) (1-5) (39-36) 58.2

13: Louis, Pedersen, Davidsson, Holder (4-2) (43- 38) 58.3

14: Holder, Tomicek, Eriksson, Kylmakorpi (2-4) (45-42) 58.5

15: Holder, Louis, Shields, Watt (3-3) (48-45) 58.6

8:54pm Friday 11th April 2008

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