FULL-STRENGTH Poole had to wait to make certain of their win but eventually took advantage of the Buildbase Bees' problems to register an 18-point win.
Bees put in a battling showing at Wimborne Road with Rory Schlein and Olly Allen especially impressive, but the absence of two of their team was always going to make this another tough night.
Rider replacement for skipper Chris Harris scored the Bees seven points, clearly short of Harris's potential especially given his recent form at Poole, and whilst guest Daniel King could certainly not be faulted for effort, he was unable to collect the kind of points haul that Bees would have hoped for from Billy Janniro.
Simon Stead endured another up-and-down evening with more mechanical problems thrown in, whilst at reserve Stan Burza collected some useful points but Andreas Messing put in three point-less rides.
Schlein and Allen had been Bees best riders in Monday's thumping defeat at Lakeside, and they gave the visitors the best possible start at Poole with a surprise 5-1 in Heat 1 over the Pirates' golden boy Chris Holder, the home man trying all he knew but finding the way blocked at every opportunity.
However, Bees' advantage did not last as Burza was mugged by Daniel Davidsson and Freddie Eriksson coming out of the second bend after making a good start in Heat 2, and the Pirates then went ahead for the first time with a 4-2 in the next, Schlein having to work overtime to keep himself ahead of Adam Skornicki but behind Davey Watt.
Davidsson, currently enjoying the most productive spell of his British career, did further damage to his former club in Heat 4 with a fast start to join up with skipper Bjarne Pedersen for a 5-1 over Stead and Messing.
Bees needed to halt the Pirates' momentum, and they did all they could in the following races, firstly with Allen defending resolutely to see off Watt in Heat 5, only for a possible 4-2 to slip away when Skornicki re-passed King on the last lap.
A further point was dropped in Heat 6 as second-placed Stead suffered clutch problems allowing Magnus Zetterstrom through for a point, but Bees did gain a 4-2 in Heat 7 thanks to a fine win from Schlein over Pedersen with King in third place.
Zetterstrom had struggled in the early stages, and if that had continued Bees might just have got themselves closer - but the experienced Swede stepped up to the plate in a thrilling Heat 8 which saw him do what Holder and Watt had failed to do earlier on as he managed to find a way past the fast-starting Allen coming off the final bend, whilst in a similarly close battle for third place Burza held on ahead of Davidsson.
A Poole 4-2 followed in Heat 9 with Stead splitting Watt and Skornicki, and then there was drama in Heat 10 with Zetterstrom hitting the front but Holder missing out in the early stages - and the Poole No.1 then slammed into the fence on the last lap when attempting to pass King for third place.
Fortunately there were no injuries although fence repairs were required, and when racing resumed Bees narrowed the gap to six points when Stead won Heat 11, Bees taking advantage of Pedersen's engine failure on the start-line.
That, however, was as good as it got as the Pirates then pulled clear. Bees gated on a 4-2 in Heat 12 but Watt overtook Schlein at the start of lap two and Davidsson managed a similar manoevre on Burza - and Holder and Pedersen then recovered from their earlier setbacks to 5-1 Stead and Allen in the next.
That left Bees with the sole option of using King as a tactical ride in Heat 14, but he was outgated by Skornicki and Freddie Eriksson who did a terrific job to keep King at bay and prevent him from scoring double-points.
Heat 15 took some time to run with initially an unsatisfactory start, and then a first-bend bunching incident which saw Allen hit the deck and be ruled out of the re-run with a sore wrist, although fortunately there were no indications of major damage. Holder finished with double-figures by winning the re-run with Schlein completing a good night's work by beating Pedersen once again.
By the end of a fairly entertaining meeting, each of the Pirates had been paid for at least one heat win, and six of them had won races, which was in contrast to the Bees' position, affected at least in part by the problems of the last week leaving them with little chance of replicating their stunning recent wins at Wimborne Road of 2005 and 2007.
POOLE 54 Chris Holder 1 3 F 3 3 = 10 Magnus Zetterstrom 0 1 3 3 = 7 Davey Watt 3 3 2 3 = 11 Adam Skornicki 1 1* 1 2* = 5+2 Bjarne Pedersen 3 2 R 2* 1 = 8 Freddie Eriksson 2* 0 2 3 = 7+1 Daniel Davidsson 3 2* 0 1 = 6+1
BUILDBASE BEES 36 Chris Harris Rider Replacement Olly Allen 2* 3 2 1 1 N = 9+1 Rory Schlein 3 2 3 2 2 2 = 14 Daniel King 0 0 1 1* 1^ = 3+1 Simon Stead 1 R 2 3 0 0 = 6 Stan Burza 1 2 1* 0 R = 4+1 Andreas Messing 0 0 0 = 0
