COVENTRY Bees lost to the better team admits boss Gary Havelock after watching his side lose out to rivals Poole on a tough night against the defending champions.
Another sensational display from No.1 Krzysztof Kasprzak was not enough for the Bees who went down to a 36-56 defeat, and who now have just four away matches remaining to improve a record of one win on the road so far this season in the Elite League.
Kasprzak went undefeated following a loss to opposite number Chris Holder in Heat 1, as he clocked a score of 13+1 for the third match in succession.
But two maximum advantages for the Pole alongside skipper Chris Harris were as good as it got for the Bees, as a solid-scoring Pirates team took the honours with reserve Bjarne Pedersen unbeaten until finishing at the back in Heat 15.
“It’s disappointing because you don’t like going anywhere and getting beaten like we did, and especially against Poole with our rivalry,” said Havelock.
“But fair play to them tonight, they were making good starts and that’s where we were lacking again.
“I felt good on the bike, I felt I had good speed, but it was hard to pass with the way the track was tonight. There was a bit of contact in the race with Hans, but he then slid off about five minutes later – it is what it is, and when you keep turning left on someone it’s going to happen.
“We’ve got to re-group now, we’re at home on Friday and we’ve got to get a win against Belle Vue.”
Harris started his night with a disqualification as he tangled with Hans Andersen in Heat 3 with the former Coventry rider coming to grief.
And with the Bees 8-22 down after five races, Harris was sent out for double points in Heat 6 with plenty of drama following as first Poole’s Brady Kurtz fell on turn one, and in the re-run Krzysztof Buczkowski came to grief on the last lap.
Referee Barbara Horley brought the race to a halt and awarded the Bees an 8-0 which at least statistically gave them a route back into the meeting.
But Poole responded quickly with two 5-1s and a 4-2 in the next three races, although Josh Bates held Andersen at bay until the final bend of Heat 7, and the British Under-21 Champion then came to grief himself two races later.
Kasprzak stemmed the Poole flow by steaming past Buczkowski to win Heat 10, but a shock 5-1 from Holder and Adam Ellis over Harris and Danny King in the next secured matters in the Pirates’ favour.
The final four races were shared overall with Kasprzak outstanding in Heat 13 to pass both Holder and Andersen, and the Pole then combined with Harris for a 5-1 in Heat 15 over Holder and Pedersen to give Bees some late consolation.
