ADAM Ellis suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder and an ankle injury on a night to forget for Pirates at Wolverhampton.

Ellis locked up on turn one of heat 11 and immediately retired from Poole’s 55-35 defeat at Monmore Green, opting to return home before visiting hospital.

Pirates team boss Neil Middleditch told the Daily Echo: “We are not sure how severe either injury is. The medics wanted Adam to have X-rays in Wolverhampton but he chose to go home first.

“He doesn’t think his ankle is broken but he may have dislocated his shoulder. We don’t know at this stage. I would say he is a very serious doubt for Wednesday.”

Krzysztof Buczkowski kicked off the evening in style but Chris Holder was out of shape coming out of the first bend and brought up the rear in a shared opener.

Brady Kurtz’s fourth-bend error was punished by Kyle Howarth in heat two and while Ellis shot out of the traps in his first race since stepping into the main body of the team, Wolves’s Joonas Kylmakorpi and Hans Andersen steamed through.

The Dane’s victory nudged Pirates in front for the only time and as track conditions became increasingly challenging, Poole began to struggle after conceding two quickfire maximums. 

Howarth took second from guest Lewis Kerr on the second lap of heat four to follow home Jacob Thorssell.

Buczkowski was then disqualified and Kurtz suffered engine troubles to hand Sam Masters and Max Clegg a restaged heat five.

Andersen followed up with another faultless display but Wolves continued to turn the screw.

Ellis gated again but was passed by Kylmakorpi before holding off Freddie Lindgren as Bjarne Pedersen registered his second zero. 

Howarth came out on top in a fierce battle for second with Buczkowski in another Wolves 5-1 before crucially repeating the trick in heat nine.

Pedersen was sent out on a tactical with Howarth drafted in as a reserve replacement and the ex-Poole rider kept the veteran at bay as the hosts built up a 16-point advantage courtesy of another Masters masterclass.

Holder hit back with a emphatic heat 10 victory but Kylmakorpi passed Buczkowski in second to deny Pirates a much-needed maximum.

Ellis’s accident saw him disqualified from the re-run of heat 11 in which Andersen dived under Masters but could not quite catch winner Lindgren.

Kurtz showed fighting spirit with a strong ride to take heat 12 but any hope of rescuing a point evaporated when Holder brought up the rear for a third time in the next race.

That rendered academic the final two heats won by Mikkel Bech and the unstoppable Andersen.

Middleditch added: “We were just not able to match their pace and were not good enough. There are no excuses.

“Wolverhampton were very sharp. The track was a bit patchy but it was the same for both teams. We just weren’t up to the task.”

ECHO STAR RIDER - HANS ANDERSEN

The flying Dane seems to be the only rider unaffected by Poole’s away-day woes as he followed up his 12-point haul for Lodz in Poland on Sunday by going one better.

Even on a tricky Monmore Green surface, Andersen looked imperious, able to pass his opponents and carried the fight on an evening when little went right for the Pirates.

Krzysztof Buczkowski battled away despite mixed fortunes and Brady Kurtz showed promise in flashes, particularly in claiming victory in heat 12. His strength at reserve will be required during a busy May.

RIDER SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS 

Wolverhampton 55: 1 Freddie Lindgren (2-1-3-3-2) 11, 2 Sam Masters (1*-3-3-1) 8+1, 3 Mikkel Bech (0-2-0-3) 5, 4 Jacob Thorssell (3-1*-3-2*) 9+2, 5 Joonas Kylmakorpi (2-3-2-1-1*) 9+1, 6 Max Clegg (r-2*-0) 2+1, 7 Kyle Howarth (3-2*-2*-2*-2) 11+3. Team manager: Peter Adams. 

Poole Pirates 35: 1 Chris Holder (0-0-3-0) 3, 2 Krzysztof Buczkowski (3-fx-1-1-0) 5, 3 Adam Ellis (1-2-fx) 3, 4 Bjarne Pedersen (0-0-1^-1) 2, 5 Hans Andersen (3-3-2-2-3) 13, 6 Brady Kurtz (2-1-0-3-0) 6, 7 Lewis Kerr (guest) (1*-1-0-1) 3+1. Team manager: Neil Middleditch. 

Ht 1: Buczkowski, Lindgren, Masters, Holder (3-3)
Ht 2: Howarth, Kurtz, Kerr, Clegg (retired) (6-6)
Ht 3: Andersen, Kylmakorpi, Ellis, Bech (8-10)
Ht 4: Thorssell, Howarth, Kerr, Pedersen (13-11)
Ht 5: (re-run) Masters, Clegg, Kurtz, Buczkowski (fell, d/q) (18-12)
Ht 6: Andersen, Bech, Thorssell, Holder (21-15)
Ht 7: Kylmakorpi, Ellis, Lindgren, Pedersen (25-17)
Ht 8: Thorssell, Howarth, Buczkowski, Kurtz (30-18)
Ht 9: Masters, Howarth, Pedersen (tactical), Kerr (35-19)
Ht 10: Holder, Kylmakorpi, Buczkowski, Bech (37-23)
Ht 11: Lindgren, Andersen, Masters, Ellis (fell, d/q) (41-25)
Ht 12: Kurtz, Howarth, Kerr, Clegg (43-29)
Ht 13: Lindgren, Andersen, Kylmakorpi, Holder (47-31)
Ht 14: Bech, Thorssell, Pedersen, Kurtz (52-32)
Ht 15: Andersen, Lindgren, Kylmakorpi, Buczkowski (55-35)