CRAIG Boyce marked his long-awaited Poole homecoming with an immaculate 11 paid 12 point maximum against a spirited Workington outfit last night.

A crowd of under 2,000 at Wimborne Road was slightly disappointing, if not understandable because of the unsettled nature of the weather throughout yesterday.

But those Meridian Lifts Pirates fans who did turn up saw Boyce rattle off four unbeaten rides by a visitor as he scorched to his first maximum, full or paid, as a Poole rider for almost six years.

His previous unbeaten haul was 14 paid 15 from five rides in a 65-25 home romp over Coventry on September 24, 1997, before he left Pirates for Oxford on loan in 1999.

It was almost as though Boycey had not been away though, especially when he scorched from the back to pass all three of the other riders in heat four last night.

Slow out of gate four, the Australian soon recovered to zip outside Workington's Aidan Collins and his Poole team-mate Tony Primmer by the second bend fence into second place.

Then Boyce dived inside Peter I Karlsson, no slouch, on the third bend as he completed a stylish last-to-first-dash inside one lap of his comeback appearance in a blue and white skull and crossbones race jacket.

Boyce led from tapes to flag in heat seven as all the action was behind him with bright prospect Cameron Woodward riding the white line well on the fourth bend of the second lap to snatch third place for Poole off Rusty Harrison.

The evergreen Aussie pulled off a brilliant outside pass of Kauko Niemenen on the fourth bend of the first lap in heat 11 after being stuck on the Workington rider's shoulder since the first corner to win that race.

Then Boyce outgated Comets star Carl Stonehewer in heat 13 to join team-mate Leigh Adams on a Pirates 5-1 and complete an outstanding night's work.

Boyce said: "The meeting went really well for me. I really enjoyed it.

"It was just good to have a spin out in front of the home fans and show my loyalty to Poole and my sponsors, Bournemouth Bedding, JT Commercials and Argon Welding.

"I was pretty confident of doing well because I have been practising at Poole since the start of the season.

"I tried a couple of new things mechanically that went well so it was good. I wasn't making the best of starts in the first couple of races, but it came right.

"I enjoyed riding on Poole's track again. I wish I could do it more often."

Boyce wasn't the only Pirate to go through the card unbeaten.

Adams was as immaculate as ever, notching up five straight wins in untroubled fashion, while Lukas Dryml reeled off four heat wins and followed Adams home in heat 15 to register 14 paid 15.

Poole had 13 race winners, but Premier League Workington pulled out all the stops to grab two race verdicts to stake up a handsome 37 point return for a second division outfit on a top-flight track.

Indeed, Stonehewer produced the highlight of the contest in heat eight when he was called in as a golden double tactical substitute.

Starting 15 metres back from the rest of the riders, he was held up by Danny Warwick for one-and-a-quarter laps before he got into third place.

Stonehewer edged past his slowing team-mate Kauko Niemenen at the beginning of the third lap and then bore down on race leader Tony Primmer.

The experienced Primmer, who has done a more than respectable job for Poole at reserve this season in these fixtures, rode steadily despite the pressure Stonehewer was applying.

And only a lightning last bend outside manoeuvre by the Workington rider enabled him to slip past the Pirate on the run-in to the finish line to edge a dramatic race win by half-a-wheel's length.

Stonehewer's effort was rewarded with six points and with Simon Stead and Collins teaming up for a Comets 4-2 in heat 14, they eventually outpointed Eastbourne (twice), Wolves and Belle Vue on their recent trips to Wimborne Road, albeit, though, Poole had a much weaker team out than their regular Elite League line up.

HEAT DETAILS Pirates: 1 Leigh Adams (3-3-3-3-3) 15, 2 Danny Warwick (0-0-0-fell) 0, 3 Lukas Dryml (3-3-3-3-2*) 14+1, 4 David Ruud (2*-1-2*-2) 7+2, 5 Craig Boyce (3-3-3-2*) 11+1, 6 Cameron Woodward (2*-1-0-0) 3+1, 7 Tony Primmer (3-1-2-0) 6. Team manager: Neil Middleditch. Workington: 1 Carl Stonehewer (2-2-6-2-1-1) 14, 2 Kauko Niemenen 1*-0-1-1*-1*) 4+3, 3 Simon Stead (1-2-2-2-3-0) 10, 4 Rusty Harrison (0-0-withdrawn from meeting injured hand) 0, 5 Peter I Karlsson (2-2-1-1*-0) 6+1, 6 Blair Scott (0-1*-0) 1+1, 7 Aidan Collins (1-0-1) 2. Team manager: Ian Thomas. Referee: Mike Posselwhite. Ht 1: Adams, Stonehewer, Niemenen, Warwick (fell remounted), 58.71 (3-3). Ht 2: Primmer, Woodward, Collins, Scott, 61.95 (8-4). Ht 3: Dryml, Ruud, Stead, Harrison, 60.31 (13-5). Ht 4: Boyce, Karlsson, Primmer, Collins (fell remounted), 61.44 (17-7). Ht 5: Dryml, Stonehewer, Ruud, Niemenen, 59.01 (21-9). Ht 6: Adams, Karlsson, Scott, Warwick, 60.50 (24-12). Ht 7: Boyce, Stead, Woodward, Harrison, 61.09 (28-14). Ht 8: Stonehewer (double points, golden double tactical substitute), Primmer, Niemenen, Warwick, 62.21 (30-21). Ht 9: Dryml, Ruud, Karlsson, Scott, 60.85 (35-22). Ht 10: Adams, Stead, Karlsson, Warwick (fell), 60.18 (38-25). Ht 11: Boyce, Stonehewer, Niemenen, Woodward, 61.11 (41-28). Ht 12: Dryml, Stead, Niemenen, Primmer, 60.99 (44-31). Ht 13: Adams, Boyce, Stonehewer, Karlsson, 60.49 (49-32). Ht 14: Stead, Ruud, Collins, Woodward, 62.08 (51-36). Ht 15: Adams, Dryml, Stonehewer, Stead, 60.44 (56-37).