THE curse of Kirkmanshulme Lane continued for Poole Pirates with a 53-39 defeat at Belle Vue as the Elite League summit slipped further from their grasp.

Neil Middleditch’s men rarely looked like making up points lost during the early heats against the play-off chasing Aces.

Dakota North, filling a second-string berth in the league for the first time this season, Maciej Janowski and Kyle Newman were the only riders to post significant scores as Poole lost for the fourth time in two years in Manchester.

Max Fricke gated in the opener as Pirates got in a muddle but North rescued second by passing Fricke on lap three as Chris Holder retired.

Steve Worrall eased to victory from the gate in the first reserve heat for the hosts, while Kyle Newman did well to hold off the challenge of Stefan Nielsen.

Janowski survived a messy second turn on lap three to cruise round in a shared heat three but Nielsen and guest Kevin Wolbert sauntered round for Belle Vue’s first maximum of the night to put Poole on the back foot by eight points after four races.

Pirates then fell further behind, despite a brave ride from North in which he clipped the fence to finish ahead of Nielsen in second. Starke had bike problems on lap one and was a long way back.

Janowski donned the black and white in an attempt to get the visitors back in it but could do nothing to catch winner Craig Cook with Holder finishing last.

And worse was to follow as razor-sharp gating again caught Pirates cold with a 5-1 from Scott Nicholls and Matej Zagar opening up a daunting 14-point gap.

A rejuvenated North raced from third to first to take the chequered flag in heat eight but Watt’s last place prevented the visitors making any headway.

Gomolski’s composed ride contributed to another shared heat and Pirates did muster a glimmer of hope when Holder and North teamed up for a heat-10 maximum.

Janowski lifted at the tapes, allowing Zagar a free run at heat 11 with Watt in second as Belle Vue maintained their 10-point advantage with four heats to go.

Newman flew out of the traps in heat 12 but Starke’s night to forget was compounded by a fall to leave the Aces holding all the cards.

And any hope of a point all but evaporated for Poole in heat 13 when Zagar stormed to victory from the gate while Nicholls held off Holder for two laps and reeled in Janowski with a show of unbelievable speed.

Watt restored some pride with victory in heat 14 but the persistent Cook denied Gomolski any kind of yield. The nominated heat was won by Nicholls from the gate ahead of Janowski and North.

ECHO STAR RIDER – MACIEJ JANOWSKI

DOUBLE-figure scores are taken as par for the course with Janowski these days and his strong performance carried their fight on a night to forget for Poole.

The Pole may have picked up an extra two in his tactical ride but his fighting spirit and selfless team riding saw him scoop an accolade that will probably mean very little given the result.

Dakota North and Kyle Newman posted presentable totals but support from other areas of the team was sadly lacking.

Belle Vue Aces 53: 1 Matej Zagar (3-2*-3-3) 11+1, 2 Max Fricke (1-3-3-0), 3 Craig Cook (1*-3-0-1*-0) 5+2, 4 Kevin Wolbert (guest) (2*-1-1*-2) 6+2, 5 Scott Nicholls (2-3-1-2*-3) 11+1, 6 Steve Worrall (3-1-0-2) 6, 7 Stefan Nielsen (1-3-2-1*) 7+1. Team manager: Mark Lemon.

Poole Pirates 39: 1 Chris Holder (r-0-3-0) 3, 2 Dakota North (2-2-3-2*-1*) 10+2, 3 Davey Watt (0-0-2-3) 5, 4 Kacper Gomolski (0-1-2-0) 3, 5 Maciej Janowski (3-4^-1*-1-2) 11+1, 6 Paul Starke (0-0-0-fx) 0, 7 Kyle Newman (2-1-1*-3) 7+1. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Elite League points: Belle Vue Aces 3, Poole Pirates 0.

HEAT DETAILS

Ht 1: Zagar, North, Fricke, Holder (retired) (4-2)

Ht 2: Worrall, Newman, Nielsen, Starke (8-4)

Ht 3: Janowski, Nicholls, Cook, Watt (11-7)

Ht 4: Nielsen, Wolbert, Newman, Gomolski (16-8)

Ht 5: Fricke, North, Worrall, Starke (20-10)

Ht 6: Cook, Janowski (tactical), Wolbert, Holder (24-14)

Ht 7: Nicholls, Zagar, Gomolski, Watt (29-15)

Ht 8: North, Nielsen, Wolbert, Starke (32-18)

Ht 9: Fricke, Gomolski, Newman, Worrall (35-21)

Ht 10: Holder, North, Nicholls, Cook (36-26)

Ht 11: Zagar, Watt, Janowski, Fricke (39-29)

Ht 12: Newman, Worrall, Nielsen, Starke (fell) (42-32)

Ht 13: Zagar, Nicholls, Janowski, Holder (47-33)

Ht 14: Watt, Wolbert, Cook, Gomolski (50-36)

Ht 15: Nicholls, Janowski, North, Cook (53-39)

OTHER RESULT: Wolverhampton 49, King’s Lynn 41.