BEES came away from Wimborne Road with defeat in their first Elite League match on the road - and also with a further injury concern after Olly Allen crashed out in Heat 5.
The Covenry second string, who has been in such good form so far this season, came down on the second lap of the race and was withdrawn from the meeting after taking a knock to the head.
It left the visitors very much up against it, especially as they were already using rider replacement for the injured Rory Schlein, and it was left to captain Chris Harris and a very impressive Billy Janniro to attempt to keep the Pirates within range.
Poole showed exactly what a force they have become at home so far this season and were not unduly hampered by their absent Poles, especially with Freddie Eriksson showing clear evidence that he is, on current form, the best reserve in the Elite League - whilst in Chris Holder, the Pirates have a five point rider with talent that will see him post an average of double that figure before too many years have passed.
The Buildbase Bees, in fact, did manage to get their noses in front in the early stages, although that was assisted by some misfortune amongst the Poole team with home guest Mads Korneliussen falling at the start of the last lap of Heat 1 when holding a 5-1 position with skipper Bjarne Pedersen.
Heat 2 provided a good race behind Eriksson, with Tomas Suchanek jostling for position with Stan Burza but, in his efforts to make it into second place, almost losing his third to Andreas Messing. The resultant 4-2 gave Poole the early lead, but Bees turned that around with maximum points in Heat 3 as Davey Watt suffered mechanical failure on the start-line, and Harris and Janniro stormed clear for a 5-1.
However, the Pirates were quick to arrest that situation and they carded a 5-1 of their own in Heat 4 with Holder racing away with the lead and Eriksson holding off the challenge of Simon Stead throughout the race - it put Poole back in front, and it was a lead they never lost.
Allen's fall in Heat 5 ruled him out of the meeting, but Harris won the re-run to keep the scores close, and that remained the case following a thriller in Heat 6 which featured a fantastic battle between Stead and Pedersen. There were a number of passing moves between the pair during the race, and Stead finally got the verdict as they went over the finishing line, although it was a mighty close call.
A further share of the points in race 7 behind the flying Holder kept the score at 22-20, but Bees were then exposed in the next two races as they conceded consecutive 5-1s, the loss of Allen crucial in Heat 8 as the reserves were unable to make a challenge on Eriksson and Korneliussen - and then in Heat 9, disaster struck for Bees as Watt managed to overhaul Stead for second place to team up with Holder for another maximum to the home side.
Bees were ten points down with one of the meeting's main talking points coming in Heat 10 as the Pirates held another 5-1 situation, this time over Harris and Janniro. At the start of the second lap, Korneliussen appeared to lift and Harris challenged - there was contact between the pair and Korneliussen fell heavily, with Bees themselves somewhat surprised and relieved to see the blue exclusion light coming on from the referee.
The Pirates were far from happy with that, but Pedersen limited any serious damage by taking control of the re-run, and the match was effectively secured in their favour with another 5-1 in Heat 11, Eriksson doing the damage once again as he managed to pass Stead on the third lap to follow Holder home and extend the lead to 14 points.
Harris took a tactical ride in Heat 12, but that could have gone wrong too as he was out-gated by both Watt and Eriksson. Harris did, though, manage to overcome the Swede midway through the race, but he was unable to catch Watt for a six-pointer and Bees had to be content with a share of the points from the race.
Holder, whose starting was electric all night, then made it five wins out of five - and in four of those races he was involved in a 5-1 - with Pedersen offering good support in Heat 13, and at that stage Bees were looking set for a heavy defeat.
But there was, at least, a good finish for the visitors as Janniro and Burza leapt out of the start in Heat 14 and Burza rode a good race to re-pass Eriksson on two occasions, and in Heat 15 it was Janniro to the fore once again ahead of Pedersen and Watt as Holder, understandably, protected his maximum.
POOLE 53 Bjarne Pedersen 3 2 3 2* 2 = 12+1 Mads Korneliussen F 1* 2 X = 3+1 Davey Watt R 2 2* 3 1* = 8+2 Karol Zabik Rider Replacement Chris Holder 3 3 3 3 3 = 15 Tomas Suchanek 1 1 0 0 = 2 Freddie Eriksson 3 2* 1* 3 2* 1 1 = 13+3