Heavy rain over the West Midlands came to Poole's rescue last night, saving them from a major hiding at the hands of a Wolves team with a point to prove.

Wolves boss Chris van Straaten admitted his side had been embarrassed by their heavy defeat at Eastbourne 12 days earlier and the Pirates were the first side to feel the backlash.

Poole's enthusiasm for the match drained visibly once the rain started to fall just before heat ten, but the match was way out of their hands by then, the home team having stormed into a 22-point lead.

Poole face a mountainous task tomorrow night as they try to secure the aggregate bonus league point in the return match at Wimborne Road, having to overturn a 24-point advantage.

It will need something special to do that and there was little at Monmore Green to suggest that they have anything out of the ordinary in their locker.

Tony Rickardsson was unfortunate to suffer engine problems at the start of heat four - a drawn heat being turned into a 5-1 for the home team - and he looked very much like a world champion next time out, winning heat six easily after Wolves No. 1 and fellow-Swede Mikael Karlsson made a complete mess of the start.

Karlsson called on his big brother Peter to sort Rickardsson out in the ninth race and it was 'PK' who proved the man of the meeting with a perfect four wins from four.

He was given excellent backing by Daniel Nermark - unbeaten by any Poole rider - while there was little substantial support for Rickardsson from the rest of the Pirates team.

Gary Havelock could perhaps count himself unlucky to be excluded from his second outing, slithering into the fence on the third turn of the second lap under pressure from Jesper Jensen.

Gregorz Walasek's return to the team was less impressive than he might have hoped, while fellow-Poles Tomasz Chranowski and Mariusz Staszewski were out of their depth even before the rain started.

Wolverhampton: Mikael Karlsson (3-2-3) 8; David Howe (0-1*-3-F) 4(1); Peter Karlsson (3-3-3-3) 12; Jesper Jensen (0-2*-1) 3(1); Paul Hurry (3-3-X) 6; Daniel Nermark (3-2*-2*-3) 10(2); Chris Neath (2*-2*-XT-1) 5(2); Team manager Peter Adams.

Poole: Gary Havelock (2-X-1-1*) 4(1); Gregorz Walasek (1*-1-0-2) 4(1); Hans Andersen (2-0-1*-2) 5(1); Bjarne Pedersen (1*-1-2) 4(1); Tony Rickardsson (R-3-2) 5; Tomasz Chrzanowski (1-0-0) 1; Mariusz Staszewski (0-1-0) 1; Team manager Neil Middleditch. Referee Graham Reeve (Droitwich).