ELATED Pirates skipper Magnus Zetterstrom could not hold back his emotions as he greeted his side's Elite League title triumph with a flood of tears.

A fired-up Poole, eight points ahead of Wolves from the first leg, tore into their opponents at Wimborne Road to claim a second consecutive championship, so much so that they had sealed the silverware by the end of heat 10.

And once news of the victory filtered through to the pits, Zorro, in his ninth year with Pirates, could not control his feelings as the magnitude of the achievement hit home.

The home side eventually went on to romp to a 63-30 success on the night, 112-73 on aggregate, with every member of the side contributing at least one heat win.

And the sobbing Swede ranked the glorious occasion as one of the best nights of his career.

He said: "I've been here for nine years, in and out of the team, so this is a great feeling, especially when you are captain too.

"It must be the best night of my career team-wise.

The best I had before was the European Championship on my own, but this is the greatest team moment.

"There was pressure even though we had the eight-point lead. You do 30-40 meetings a season and it then comes down to two meetings.

"Everything just went mad after Middlo said we had won it. They came down here to win and once we had it in the bag, I just exploded, it's nothing you can plan. I'm not usually that emotional but maybe I'm getting old!"

With each Poole rider being paid no less than eight points, Zetterstrom was overjoyed with the fantastic team effort. But he was also quick to hail some of the campaign's more unsung characters.

He added: "The performance showed how much we wanted to win it. The whole squad did a great job and we really deserved it.

"We have proved you can win it even if you have won it the year before. Matt (Ford), Mike (Golding) and Middlo are doing a great in picking the right riders so I'm just pleased to be a part of it.

"I wish Tony (Rickardsson) had been here to celebrate, he was as much a part of this as were Jason (Lyons) and Dave Watt. They all deserve this too and the trophy is for them too.

"Also, the fans were awesome again. Every week they bring this atmosphere and they are the best in the country, probably the world."

First published: Oct 12