TITLE favourites Poole grabbed the bragging rights after the first instalment of a season-long battle with Peterborough.
The two teams widely tipped to fight it out for the Elite League crown face four crunch matches against each other.
And it was the Pirates who came out on top of their own track – and they’ll arrive at the East of England Showground on Friday night (April 9) seeking a quick back-to-back double.
The Readypower Panthers were overwhelmed by a rampant home side who justified all the pre-season predictions that they will be the team to beat this season.
But Peterborough will look at a poor overall team performance – and hope the majority of the team can’t do as poorly as they did at Wimborne Road.
Only two riders – in-form Troy Batchelor (pictured) and Grand Prix star Kenneth Bjerre – won races, picking up five heat wins between them.
The only other Panther to leave the South Coast with his reputation enhances was new Pole Krzysztof Buczkowski who again figured in at least one heat maximum.
Things began badly in the opening race when skipper Niels-Kristian Iversen picked up unexpected grip coming out of the second bend and came to grief.
Even though he was able to pick himself up and remount by then the other three riders had disappeared into the distance and even though Lewis Bridger split the home pairing of Australian Champion Chris Holder and Jason Doyle it was first blood to the Pirates.
A maximum in the second race, with 1992 World Champion Gary Havelock passing the unfortunate Joel Parsons put Poole six up.
Parsons, a star of Panthers’ opening home win against Coventry, had a traumatic night after he’d been given permission to have his mobile phone with him in the pits in case his partner Zoe went into labour with their first child.
He bent the frame in his best machine in a freak pre-meeting incident in which his clutch cable snapped, launching the bike into the solid brick pits wall.
He had to switch to his second machine – and ended up crashing in his third and final ride.
He admitted: “It’s the first time I’ve ever been to Poole – and it’s a night I want to forget.
“I suppose these things happen but this isn’t the way I wanted it to go.”
Panthers’ only real salvation came from the dual efforts of Batchelor, unbeaten in his first three rides but then pegged to the back when he had the dreadful gate four in Heat 13.
The outside start provided only one race winner all night – and in seven of the 15 races whoever started from gate four finished pointless.
That included a Heat 8 tactical ride for Lewis Bridger that ended any hopes of a Peterborough revival.
Although Batchelor then won Heart 9 as a tactical his partner Buczkowski was last as he found starting on the outside too big a handicap.
Bjerre scored solidly throughout – two wins, two second places and a third behind partner Batchelor in the last race – but there was no real back up.
Iversen, in such terrific form on Good Friday, had his worst meeting of the season and neither Ulrich Østergaard nor Parsons were really on the pace after the Aussie’s battling opening ride.
And Bridger’s slow start to the new season continued on a track where he has previously performed superbly.
POOLE 54 (Chris Holder 14 (3-2-3-3-3), Davey Watt 9:1 (2-2:1-2-3), Bjarne Pedersen 8:1 (0-3-3-2:1-0), Gary Havelock 7:2 (2:1-2-1-2:1), Darcy Ward 6:2 (1:1-3-1:1-1), Jason Doyle 6:1 (1-1:1-3-1), Leon Madsen 4 (3-1-0-F).
PETERBOROUGH 39 (Troy Batchelor 14 (3-3-6-0-2), Kenneth Bjerre 11:1 (3-2-2-3-1:1), Krzysztof Buczkowski 5:1 (0-1-2-0-F-2:1), Niels-Kristian Iversen 4 (F-1-2-1), Lewis Bridger 3:1 (2-0-0-1:1), Ulrich Østergaard 1 (0-0-1), Joel Parsons 1 (1-0-FX).