Bjarne Pedersen

PIRATES team manager Neil Middleditch labelled Bjarne Pedersen Captain Fantastic' after he inspired them to a mighty 48-42 victory at Lakeside last night.

The Dane scorched to a scintillating 12 paid 14 as Poole Castle Cover put one hand on the Elite League championship trophy in front of Sky's cameras.

Adam Skornicki was also on top form for the Dorset club as he romped to three race wins as they silenced the Hammers fans on their home track.

It meant Pirates, who scored solidly throughout their team as they stunned their play-off final rivals, are on the verge of clinching their first title since 2004.

They go into the second leg on Monday, October 13 with a valuable six-point lead.

And barring a sporting disaster, they should clinch the championship in front of the Wimborne Road faithful.

Middleditch, whose side roared into an unexpected 13-5 lead, said: "What can you say about Bjarne? He's just Captain Fantastic.

"It was a great night for Bjarne. He fought hard for a couple of second places behind Adam in his opening rides.

"Then all of a sudden Bjarne has won two more races and got a second in heat 15 to get a bucketful of points.

"He led by example and really inspired the rest of the team.

"Sqora was brilliant as well, and he thoroughly deserved his heat 15 outing.

"Gating is such a key factor here and Adam was gating really well.

"Third place in heat 15 was great reward for his effort tonight."

Middleditch, whose side had romped into a 30-18 advantage after eight races, added: "It was a great result.

"I don't think we would ever have envisaged a scoreline like that.

"One of the keys was the starts were good for us.

"The rain over the weekend made the start very grippy and it suited our boys.

"It was slick, but not as slick as last week when Lakeside easily beat Swindon in the semis.

"We got into Lakeside early, and heat two and eight were key.

"Getting a 5-1 in heat two is always a good one because the opposition have to play catch up straight away.

"Heat eight (when Lakeside used Andreas Jonsson as a tactical substitute off a 15 metre handicap) was a big gamble by Hammers team manager Jon Cook that didn't pay off.

"They thought Zorro (Magnus Zetterstrom) was off form but he changed bikes and was a different rider on the new one.

"Daniel Davidsson also proved what an improved rider he is this year with another great display.

"We've got no gripes with the referee's decision after Adam fell in heat 10 either.

"Adam was just over trying a bit on the last corner (as he tried to overtake Jonsson on the outside)."

Asked if the outcome of the two-legged final had already been decided, Middleditch said: "No, because we've slipped up twice at home this season.

"Lakeside have nothing to lose, but we can lose it. So it's certainly not over yet."

7:00am Tuesday 7th October 2008

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