Wolves scoop win and draw

After three-and-a-half hours of compelling action, Peter Adams' men emerged with a narrow victory over Poole and a draw against Eastbourne.

And while they were bitterly disappointed at sharing the spoils with the Eagles, no-one had cause for complaint over the entertainment provided over 30 thrilling races.

With a top four place now out of reach, it hardly mattered that both visiting teams claimed the bonus points on offer, although at one stage Wolves looked capable of overcoming an 11-point deficit from the away match at Eastbourne.

Even without Billy Hamill, plus the handicap of Peter Karlsson nursing a hand injury, they twice led by eight points, only for the visitors to draw level in the penultimate race.

The tone was set for an excellent night's action when David Howe and skipper Karlsson recovered from a sluggish start to turn a potential 1-5 into a 5-1 against World Championship leader Nicki Pedersen and Lewis Bridger in the opening heat.

And when James Grieves held off Morten Risager to follow home Freddie Lindgren in heat four, Wolves were six ahead.

The best race of the match, though, was a classic seventh race contest, in which Lindgren surged past Davey Watt to win by the narrowest of margins and William Lawson also swept through to edge out Cameron Woodward.

With both reserves notching vital points, a home win looked inevitable when Wolves established a 34-26 lead after heat 10, but from there it was all downhill.

Lindgren was far from happy when he was forced into the pits bend fence by former Wolves man Pedersen in the following race and it didn't help when Karlsson drifted wide and trailed last in heat 12.

Grieves sneaked third place on the line in that one to prevent the Eagles drawing level, but it finally happened two races later before Pedersen ensured a draw by outgating Lindgren and Howe in the final heat.

If the reserves performed admirably for a combined haul of 15 in that match, they went one better against Poole - and ultimately clinched victory when they secured a 5-1 in heat 14.

It was yet another outstanding piece of speedway as the Pirates duo of Craig Boyce and Jason Doyle led from the tapes before Grieves worked his way past Boyce and then brilliantly swept around Doyle on the second lap.

Then, going into the final lap, Lawson found a way through on the inside to make it a Scottish one-two. It hardly mattered that Poole took maximum points from the final race.

The Scots' superb effort had already left home supporters both delighted and relieved that another sizeable lead had not been frittered away.Such a scenario seemed a distinct possibility in heat 10 when Wolves, 10 points ahead, had their advantage whittled down to two in the space of four catastrophic laps.

Taking a tactical ride, Jason Crump was initially out of the running, but with Howe and Karlsson both retiring at various stages, the World Champion claimed a win worth double points, Craig Boyce adding two more in an almost unheard-of 8-0 race win.

Thankfully, Wolves - with Lindgren leading the way, regained their composure to finish a long night on a high note.