ICE-MAN Bjarne Pedersen held his nerve under a last-heat assault from Steve Johnston to seal a thrilling draw for RIAS Pirates in a Blunsdon blinder (July 15).

With the two sides proving impossible to separate throughout, it came down to a heat 15 decider, with Antonio Lindback and Pedersen needing a win to secure an unexpected victory or at least a second spot to take the draw.

Leigh Adams blasted away in front from the gate, in contrast to his sluggish starts in his previous races, and once clear it was all about the battle for second.

Lindback, Johnston and Pedersen were joined at the axle round the second bend but as the Poole pair sandwiched the Robins man, the Dane edged in front down the straight.

The hard work was yet to come though. Johnston, knowing a 5-1 would seal the match for the hosts, swarmed all over Pedersen but the Arctic-cool Poole man held off the Australian to ensure a point for Neil Middleditch's side.

It was no more than they deserved for a performance rich in determination, with the dashes of style and flamboyance thrown in more sparingly than in the previous night's showman exhibition, when Pirates crushed Robins 57-38 at Wimborne Road.

And Pedersen proved the trump card throughout, from heat one when he caught Adams cold to blast to an opening triumph, right down to the final heat drama.

Ryan Sullivan revelled in the wide open spaces of the Abbey Stadium track to record thumping wins over Aussie team-mates Adams and Johnston in heats six and nine.

And Lindback showed some glimpses of his early season thrill-a-minute form, despite some jittery showings at the tapes where he twice instigated re-starts.

His, and probably the match's best moment came when he found unimaginable speed off the second corner, a feat he put down to "a bit of luck", in heat 14 to hold off the challenge of Johnston and streak to his third success of the night.

If a criticism could be made, it would be that Poole could have wrapped up a win if they could have secured a few more minor placings to back up the heat winners. But reserves Krzysztof Kasprzak and Daniel Davidsson found the going tough, as again did skipper Magnus Zetterstrom who simply looks devoid of confidence.

However, his side rolls on and the bonus point, on top of the away point, will prove more than useful as they stave off Wolves' advances at the top of the Elite League table.

Heat Details

Swindon: 1 L Adams (2-2-2-3-3) 12, 2 D Ruud (1*-1*-ex-0) 2+2, 3 A Smith (0-1*-1-2) 4+2, 4 S Johnston (2-2-2-2-1), 5 C Gjedde (2-3-2-1), 6 O Allen (1-0-0) 1, 7 P Ljung (3-1*-3-1*-1*) 9+3. Team manager: Alun Rossiter Poole: 1 B Pedersen (3-3-3-2-2), 2 M Zetterstrom (0-0-2-1) 3, 3 M Ferjan (1-2-1-3) 7, 4 A Lindback (3-1*-3-3-0), 5 R Sullivan (3-3-3-0), 6 D Davidsson (2-0-0-ret) 2, 7 K Kasprzak (0-0-1*-0) 1+1. Team manager: Neil Middleditch Match referee: Stuart Wilson Heat 1: Pedersen, Adams, Ruud, Zetterstrom, 65.96 (3-3) Heat 2: Ljung, Davidsson, Adams, Kasprzak, 68.36 (7-5) Heat 3: Lindback, Johnston, Ferjan, Smith, 66.64 (9-9) Heat 4: Sullivan, Gjedde, Ljung, Kasprzak, 66.33 (12-12) Heat 5: Pedersen, Johnston, Smith, Zetterstrom, 66.81 (15-15) Heat 6: Sullivan, Adams, Ruud, Davidsson, 65.30 (18-18) Heat 7: Gjedde, Ferjan, Lindback, Allen, 66.77 (21-21) Heat 8: Ljung, Zetterstrom, Kasprzak, Ruud (exc, fell), 68.30 (24-24) Heat 9: Sullivan, Johnston, Smith, Davidsson, 66.67 (27-27) Heat 10: Lindback, Adams, Ferjan, Ruud, 66.34 (29-31) Heat 11: Pedersen, Gjedde, Zetterstrom, Allen, 67.21 (31-35) Heat 13: Adams, Pedersen, Gjedde, Sullivan, 66.58 (38-40) Heat 14: Lindback, Johnston, Ljung, Kasprzak, 67.40 (41-43) Heat 15: Adams, Pedersen, Johnston, Lindback, 67.64 (45-45)