SCOTT Nicholls tried his best to ruin Pirates boss Matt Ford's birthday celebrations (August 11).

But not even the Ipswich star's magnificent 18-point five-ride maximum - which included a tactical rider double points victory - could wipe the smile off the Poole RIAS supremo's face last night.

The Dorset club's runaway 48-33 victory was sewn up with two races to go before referee Peter Clarke abandoned the meeting because of heavy rain.

Coupled with a 91-83 aggregate success it means Pirates are a massive 14 points clear of second-placed Wolves at the top of the Elite League.

Wolves went down 54-41 at Peterborough last night and it would appear they have little chance of finishing in front of Poole come the end of the regular season.

So Pirates look as though they will move directly into the title play-off two-legged final and not have to go through the qualifiers.

Ipswich's Hans Andersen didn't show up even though a healthy crowd of 3,000 gathered at a wet and soggy Wimborne Road circuit to watch the action.

But, in truth, the Poole asset and man-of-the-moment didn't miss much.

It was too wet and cold for the majority of the racing to be anything other than processional.

Also, the depleted Witches were without Jesper B Jensen, who had a racing commitment in Denmark, and were forced to bring in Conference Leaguer Tom Brown.

With Danny Bird injured and out for the rest of the season, Ipswich did well to avoid a complete hammering.

For that they must thank Nicholls, who provided most of the noteworthy action, starting by beating Magnus Zetterstrom from behind in heat four.

Nicholls, who scored more than half his side's points, outgated Bjarne Pedersen to take the chequered flag in heat six.

Then he dived under Matej Ferjan and Antonio Lindback on the second bend to go on and roar to victory in heat nine scoring double points.

Ryan Sullivan led Nicholls for two-and-a-half laps in heat 11 before the Ipswich ace roared inside and past the Poole man on the back straight.

The Brit then took Pedersen from behind to win heat 13 and complete his clean sweep.

Zetterstrom (13+1) top-scored for Pirates from the reserve berth, from where Mark Lemon (4+2) also shone on his home debut for Poole this year as a replacement for injured Daniel Davidsson.

Pirates' strength in depth proved key in the end to leave Ford smiling, although the wily co-promoter still wouldn't reveal exactly which birthday he was celebrating!