AMAZING what difference a week can make, eh? (Jul 14)

Three defeats in four after last Thursday's reverse at Ipswich, including a first home loss in more than 18 months to Eastbourne, and all was not rosy in the Pirates' garden.

Promoter Matt Ford maintained the worrying glut of results was not down to a loss of form but the quality of the opposition and tough nature of the assignments. So no panicking inside the camp.

However, the Poole chief also admitted he feared the worst for last night's meeting, with Swindon boasting track experts Leigh Adams and David Ruud, as well as Peter Ljung, a man who picked up 12 paid 13 in Eastbourne's success at Wimborne Road two weeks ago.

Well, you can't be right all the time.

What could have been a stern examination of Pirates' Elite League mettle turned out to be an almost exhibition victory in front a hugely appreciative crowd.

"We thought it would be much, much tougher but the team did a great job", admitted Pirates captain Magnus Zetterstrom.

"Those points were needed to take into tonight (when Poole travel to Swindon for the reverse match). The way we rode last night, I really think we can go to Swindon and win and not just settle for the bonus point."

Indeed, when Zetterstrom's boys roll into Blunsdon tonight, they will be bubbling with confidence, not only off the back of last night's effort but from a terrific away showing at Peterborough on Monday.

Ryan Sullivan had been expected to dominate on is old track that night, but found the slick surface not to his liking so he took his frustrations out on a bewildered Robins side.

He made his intentions oh-so-clear in his opening race when he went sub-58 seconds and proceeded to show why he is truly becoming the Elite League leaders' talisman.

His battles with 2003 Poole legend Adams in heats 11 and 15 had the delirious home fans transfixed and the current hero proved on both occasions he is very much at home in Dorset with thrilling triumphs.

And while Sullivan's fireworks provided a meaty treat, they were beautifully complemented by the full-bodied performances of Daniel Davidsson.

The young Swede has built up quite a fan club at Poole and when he is on fire, it is not hard to see why. He rode fearlessly on a track tailor-made to his strengths and was instrumental in the hosts' ultimately comfortable win.

Skipper Zetterstrom continues to looks desperately out of sorts however, and he must be eternally grateful for the in-form men around him.

The match looked set to be a thriller as both sides jockeyed for position early on, trading 5-1's and leaving the tie perfectly poised at 18-18 after heat six.

But Davidsson outgunned even Sullivan in heat seven, and then combined with increasingly influential Krzysztof Kasprzak in the very next heat to pull Neil Middleditch's men eight points clear.

And when Matej Ferjan and Antonio Lindback eased to another one-two, the Robins found themselves simply hoping to keep Pirates in sight for the return to tonight.

Double-points efforts from Steve Johnson and Adams kept them in range, but a relentless home side piled on the points, with Bjarne Pedersen joining in the fun, taking his tally to nine paid 10, to emphatically restore home rule.

HEAT DETAILS

Pirates: 1 B Pedersen (1-3-3-1*-1) 9+1, 2 M Zetterstrom (0-0-1) 1 , 3 M Ferjan (3-0-3-3) 9 , 4 A Lindback (2*-1-2*-2*) 7+3 , 5 R Sullivan (3-2*-3-2-3) 13+1 , 6 D Davidsson (3-3-2*-0-3) 11+1 , 7 K Kasprzak (0-2*-3-2*) 7+2

Team manager: Neil Middleditch Swindon: 1 L Adams (3-3-2-6-2) 16, 2 D Ruud (2*-2*-ret-1-0) 5+2, 3 A Smith (1-0-0) 1 , 4 S Johnson (0-1-4-0) 5, 5 C Gjedde (0-2-1-0) 3, 6 O Allen (2-1*-0-1) 4+1, 7 P Ljung (1*-1-1-0-1) 4+1 Team manager: Alun Rossiter Match referee: Barry Richardson Heat 1: Adams, Ruud, Pedersen, Zetterstrom, 58.28 (1-5) Heat 2: Davidsson, Allen, Ljung, Kasprzak, 59.40 (4-8) Heat 3: Ferjan, Lindback, Johnson, Smith, 59.13 (9-9) Heat 4: Sullivan, Kasprzak, Ljung, Gjedde, 57.93 (14-10) Heat 5: Adams, Ruud, Lindback, Ferjan, 58.80 (15-15) Heat 6: Pedersen, Gjedde, Allen, Zetterstrom, 59.49 (18-18) Heat 7: Davidsson, Sullivan, Johnson, Smith, 59.34 (23-19) Heat 8: Kasprzak, Davidsson, Ljung, Ruud (ret), 59.74 (28-20) Heat 9: Ferjan, Lindback, Gjedde, Allen, 59.89 (33-21) Heat 10: Pedersen, Johnson, Zetterstrom, Smith, 59.12 (37-25) Heat 11: Sullivan, Adams, Ruud, Davidsson, 58.60 (40-28) Heat 12: Ferjan, Kasprzak, Allen, Ljung, 59.97 (45-29) Heat 13: Adams, Sullivan, Pedersen, Gjedde, 58.67 (48-35) Heat 14: Davidsson, Lindback, Ljung, Johnson, 60.77 (53-36) Heat 15: Sullivan, Adams, Pedersen, Ruud, 58.96 (57-38)