News

Last Updated on Friday 28th November 2003.

Sunday 2nd November 2003.

REBUILD COMPLETE.

After a hectic week Pirates have completed the revamp of the lower order of the squad with the capture of 18 year old Scottish star in the making Jamie Harrison.

Junior started his career at Bexwell in 2001 as a 16 year old and made 1 non scoring appearance for the Braves while averaging 4.83 in YDL. The talent was there for all to see in 2002 as he increased his GSA from 2.00 to 5.64 and averaged a whopping 11.33 in YDL. He has maintained his average this season while establishing himself as a full Scottish international achieving 8 caps and an international CMA of 4.57.

Kevin Tantrum declared himself pleased with this latest acquisition. 'I'm pleased with this signing,' he said. 'Junior has the talent to be one of the big names of World speedway. Ł50,000 looks like a big fee but 3 or 4 years from now it might seem an excellent bargain.'

'However, we don't want to heap undue pressure on the lad. He has done well and was obviously improving in Division 1. The step up to SL is a huge leap and we can't expect him to maintain his current figure of 5.74. We will be delighted if he rises to the challenge but we can't expect it just yet. The rest of this campaign is a bedding in period for him.'

'His signing completes the line up for next month. The side will line up as follows. Magnus Karlsson, Jamie Harrison, Rickard Reiner, Mark Villegas, Jan Kirsten, Jed Davies and Shane Slavko.'

'Lee Rough has been solid at reserve but we need more scoring power there. Roughie has decided to return to Australia for a few weeks rather than sit on the sidelines but will return to the line up in December if needed.'

Wednesday 5th November 2003.

SUPERB FIGHTBACK.

Pirates have taken a big step to SL safety with a superb 48-41 fightback win against Evesham at Craigburn Park tonight.

Inspired performances from Jan Kirsten, his second home maximum in a row, and a 14+3 haul from Magnus Karlsson not only saw Pirates claw their way back from 7 down with 5 races left but take the bonus point as well. JK easily defended his Golden Helmet too with a lightning start against Steve Drennan.

The margin of victory could have been higher too with Rickard Reiner supplying 3 race wins and an unfortunate engine failure when in second place to Per Erlingmark in heat 9. However, with his second race win he topped the 1,000 point mark for the club, in 104 appearances. It got better in his 4th ride when a race win took him to the top of the all time Pirates scorers list with 1,005, one clear of Deon Standish.

Mark Villegas had a quiet start to his Pirates career with 2 last places but roared back with a second and a crucial heat 14 victory. Shane Slavko looked tentative on his return to action but managed 2 points from the difficult number 2 berth. With some action under his belt and a move to reserve for next week's trip to Glasgow he should find things a bit more comfortable.

Jed Davies was rusty on his return and failed to score while Lee Rough could only manage 3 from 4 which drops his CMA below 5 and puts his work pernit at risk.

Team manager Kevin Tantrum said, 'A fine performance by the heatleaders pulled us out of the mire tonight. JK and Magic were just superb in heat's 11,13 and 15 notching 5-1's. We know what JK can do but we saw the real Magnus Karlsson tonight.'

'The Rocket was unlucky with his engine failure and was certain for a double figure score but these things happen. He didn't seem to bothered afterwards but when the rest of the team presented him with a bottle of champagne for becoming the all time top scoring Pirates he showed some emotion.'

'Vegas took a couple of rides to find his way around but was looking the part in heat 14. Lee Rough will now drop out of the side as Jamie Harrison comes in. We'll give him the last 2 matches of the season, if possible, to try and get his average over 5 again. We'd like to have the option of bringing him back next season.'

'We look forward to our trip to Glasgow next Friday. A win would not only help us steer clear of the relegation dogfight but would see us retain the Scottish Cup.'

Friday 14th November 2003.

DEFEAT IN GLASGOW.

The short trip over the Erskine Bridge turned into a disappointing affair for the Pirates as they returned home on the wrong end of a 49-41 defeat at the hands of relegation favourites Glasgow Sharks. The result sees bitter rivals Cumbernauld take the Scottish Cup for the second time in 3 years although the fans did have something to cheer about as Pirates took the bonus point and Jan Kirsten retained his Golden Helmet against home star Mariusz Misz.

The bonus point sees Pirates 6 points clear of the final automatic relegation spot but only 3 clear of the play off zone. However, 3 home matches in the last 4 matches should see the club safe although nothing will be taken for granted until the club are mathematically assured of SL speedway next season.

Top scorer was, yet again, triple World Champion Jan Kirsten with solid support from Magnus Karlsson and Rickard Reiner who showed a return to form. Jamie Harrison made a memorable start to his Pirates career as he joined Karlsson in a heat 1 5-1. However, two scoreless rides later his 2+1 tally didn't look so good but still a promising start. Jed Davies again looked poor and Shane Slavko was unimpressive at reserve. Mark Villegas contributed well and looks to be adjusting to SL racing fairly quickly.

Team manager Kevin Tantrum was far from impressed with his lesser lights and ranted, 'That was a disgraceful performance by the reserves. 2 points from 6 rides is unacceptable.'

'The top men performed well and it was good to see the Rocket getting back on form. Vegas gave us a solid return and JK and Magic did what we expected of them. Junior Harrison had a great start but tailed off but the quality was there for all to see in heat 1 when he beat Darren Orr. The Slayer had been practicing all week and looked off the pace. He's disappointed in himself but we need performances not apologies. Jed Davies was very poor. He will be replaced in next weeks side.'

'We are now in a situation where we must win our home matches to ensure survival. We said our aim was survival but we didn't want to cut it this close. There are a few riders who we will definitely want to keep for next year but we are already thinking about the make up of our team for next season. Some of the riders will have to put in impressive performances between now and the end of the campaign or they'll be looking elsewhere for employment.'

Sunday 16th November 2003.

LATIMER ON THE MOVE.

Seth Latimer is on the move again today after his loan spell at Cardiff was terminated.

Discussions between the sides had revealed that Slatty was looking at a spell on the sidelines in South Wales and an agreement was reached that Pirates could recall him and place him elsewhere.

When his availability was advertised SL leaders Aisha's Motor were quick to react and snap up the 19 year old Englishman to fill a reserve berth for them.

Kevin Tantrum said of the move, 'Slatty now has a chance to impress us again. He managed it early on when he went from 2.00 to over 6. He wasn't ready to slot in at number 2 and he was loaned out to gain experience. He's done fairly well to maintain his GSA in the body of the Devils side.'

'A place in the team at Craigburn Park is his for the taking if he can show us what he can do at the Motor Arena. Even if he doesn't look the finished article yet his Pirates contract is safe. He is a talent for the future and if he's not here next season he'll be loaned to a lower Division side.'

Friday 21st November 2003.

JAGUARS DEFEATED.

Pirates took another tentative step towards Super League safety tonight with a hard fought 47-43 win over high flying London. The Jaguars took the bonus point 90-89 although both teams can point to incidents which, in their opinion, changed the overall bearing of the points.

The Jags lost free scoring reserve Shane Malley in heat 2 when Ally Borland took him wide and left him no place to go except the air fence. In some respects he was lucky that the air fence was there as his injuries could have been so much more serious, as it is he misses the remainder of the league season and that means he'll lose his permit as his GSA will be below 5.

Although Pirates fell just short of the bp they will point to heat 5 when Rickard Reiner slid off while challenging Billy Hicks for the lead and heat 8 when Jamie Harrison ground to a halt when in second. Overall it has to be seen as 2 points won rather than 1 lost and it moves Pirates 5 points clear of automatic relegation and 4 clear of the play off zone.

Jan Kirsten defended his Golden Helmet for the third time with a narrow win over Per Nimni who had defeated the triple world champ in heat 15.

A happy Kevin Tantrum said, 'Magnus Karlsson had a poor match and some coaching looks on the cards but he is a talent and he is bound to have matches like these while he establishes himself in SL.'

'That and the fact we only won 6 races at home were the only down sides. Jamie Harrison, Shane Slavko and, particularly, Ally Borland looked better today although the loss of Malley probably helped boost their scores. Vegas was solid and the Rocket was unlucky to only get 8. JK was his usual brilliant self.'

'It's good to put some daylight between ourselves and the drop zone but it's not nearly enough yet. A defeat today would have seen us in a real dog fight but we are not safe yet and with a difficult home match next week against a resurgent Swanage followed by a trip to Bournemouth we will have a tough job pulling clear.'.

Friday 28th November 2003.

SWANS STUFFED.

Pirates guaranteed that they could not be automatically relegated with a convincing 12 point victory over third placed Swanage Swans at Craigburn Park tonight. The result puts the club 4 points clear of the play off zone in 7th place and also ensures that Swanage can't win the title.

Swans promoter Ross Miles wasn't present to witness his side's drubbing causing rumours that he was too scared to show his face in case he got pelted by Yo-Yo biscuits and was forced to have a go on the bungee supplied by ABC Bungee Cords.

Good performances by Magnus Karlsson and Rickard Reiner paved the way to a comfortable 3 points with very good support from Shane Slavko, Jan Kirsten (who retained the Golden Helmet for a fourth week, defeating Luke Mills) and Mark Villegas. Jamie Harrison did well enough with Ally Borland failing to score despite being on the pace.

A satisfied Kevin Tantrum said, 'We've needed a big result for a while now and that was it. We can't finish worse than 12th now but we know that 3 more points guarantee SL racing next year. We face a trip to relegated Bournemouth next week and Ipswich visit the week after. We are hopeful that we can pick up the necessary points to ensure safety. Things are so tight at the moment with only 6 points separating 3rd from 12th. We are pleased to be pulling away from the drop zone but will take nothing for granted over the next couple of weeks.'

'We were disappointed for the Rocket who just missed on a maximum but it was a very good showing. The same for Magic who hit 10 from 4. JK was solid, as was Vegas. Junior only got 3+2 but still managed to beat Jan Steensgard which is a good achievement. Ally was a bit unlucky but still showed what a raw talent he is but most pleasing of all was the Slayer's return to the form of old. He beat higher averaging reserve Ian Torrington 4 times and that was a big factor tonight.'