Adams leads victory charge

Poole's in-form Aussie ace made up for Saturday's World Cup disappointment in Denmark to storm to a classy 15-point maximum, with the table-topping Pirates collecting their third win of the season in four outings against Coventry to confirm a top-two finish and home advantage in the play-offs.

There is a more than decent chance that Poole and Coventry will meet again in the two-legged play-off final next month - though Pirates boss Neil Middleditch is taking nothing for granted.

Middleditch said: "It would be fantastic if it was Coventry and ourselves in the final, but nothing is sure. We may have won twice at Brandon this year, but they always go well at Poole and finals often bring the best out of people."

Coventry will point to the absence of both Andreas Jonsson and Billy Janniro as having a bearing on last night's outcome, but Poole were also without injured World Champion Tony Rickardsson.

Belle Vue guests Joe Screen and Jason Lyons didn't win a race between them, but Poole got by without a major contribution from Lyons, with Polish reserve Kryzsztof Kasprzak proving their trump card.

Adams was untouchable,equalling Rickardsson's track record of 58.4 in heat one, and then coming under Screen on the last lap of heat 11, but Kasprzak's paid 12 points were of almost equal value.

The Pole, on a 4.42 average, won his first three rides, seeing off Billy Hamill in a 5-1 with Lyons in heat six, and then heading home tactical substitute Lee Richardson in heat eight.

Coventry skipper Hamill had a night he would rather forget, being on the receiving end of 5-1s in his first two races, and then suffering an expensive machinery malfunction when a con rod made a large hole in his engine in heat 10.

Coventry led only once, after Ryan Fisher and Screen claimed a 4-2 in heat four, but Poole were soon in front again when Kasprzak and Lyons pocketed a 5-1 in six, and Lukas Dryml resisted Screen's strong challenge to front a 4-2 with David Ruud in seven.

Hamill, in as a tactical substitute, and Richardson pulled back four points with a 5-1 in heat nine, but Poole took 4-2s in 10 and 11 - Davey Watt jumping out to win the former - and were six points to the good.

Screen ran a last as a tactical substitute in 12 and then packed up in 13 - his fourth ride on the trot - as Poole left Coventry needing 5-1s in the last two heats to salvage a draw.

Fisher and Stuart Robson, who had been given a hard time by Bjarne Pedersen on the last lap of heat five, kept Coventry's hopes alive with a maximum in 14, but Adams had the favourable gate two in the final race and duly capitalised with his fifth win of the night.

HEAT DETAILS

Coventry: 1 Billy Hamill (1-1-3-R-2-2) 9, 2 Rider-replacement for Billy

Janniro, 3 Lee Richardson (3-2-2-2*-3-1*) 13+2, 4 Stuart Robson (2*-0-0-2*) 4+2, 5 Joe Screen (1-2-2-2-0-E) 7, 6 Jason Bunyan (0-1*-0) 1+1, 7 Ryan Fisher (2-3-1*-0-3) 9+1

Team manager: Colin Pratt

Poole: 1 Leigh Adams (3-3-3-3-3) 15, 2 Bjarne Pedersen (2*-1-0-1) 4+1, 3 Lukas Dryml (1-3-1-2-0) 7, 4 David Ruud (0-1-0) 1, 5 Jason Lyons (2-2*-E-1) 5+1, 6 Krzysztof Kasprzak (3-3-3-1-1* ) 11+1, 7 Davey Watt (0-0-3-1) 4

Team manager: Neil Middleditch

Referee: Jim Lawrence

Ht 1: Adams, Pedersen, Hamill, Bunyan 58.4 (1-5) Ht 2: Kasprzak, Fisher, Bunyan, Watt 58.9 (4-8) Ht 3: Richardson, Robson, Dryml, Ruud 59.1 (9-9) Ht 4: Fisher, Lyons, Screen, Watt 60.4 (13-11) Ht 5: Adams, Richardson, Pedersen, Robson 58.6 (15-15) Ht 6: Kasprzak, Lyons, Hamill, Robson 59.4 (16-20) Ht 7: Dryml, Screen, Ruud, Bunyan 59.9 (18-24) Ht 8: Kasprzak, Richardson, Fisher, Pedersen 59.9 (21-27) Ht 9: Hamill, Richardson, Kasprzak, Lyons 59.8 (26-28) Ht 10: Watt, Screen, Dryml, Hamill (ef) 61.0 (28-32) Ht 11: Adams, Screen, Pedersen, Fisher 60.3 (30-36) Ht 12: Richardson, Dryml, Kasprzak, Screen 59.4 (33-39) Ht 13: Adams, Hamill, Lyons, Screen (ef) 59.0 (35-43) Ht 14: Fisher, Robson, Watt, Ruud 61.5 (40-44) Ht 15: Adams, Hamill, Richardson, Dryml 59.4 (43-47)