PROMOTER Matt Ford was left to rue a “catalogue of problems” as Pirates’ miserable season took another turn for the worse tonight.

Tracking just six riders due to Robert Miskowiak’s retirement from British racing, Pirates were rocked when Tomas H Jonasson was forced to withdraw after just two heats at Perry Barr.

The Swede aggravated a rib injury when he took a spectacular fall, leaving already-depleted Pirates a man short for the remainder of the meeting.

However, their misfortune was compounded when fellow reserve Dawid Stachyra sustained a foot injury following a tangle with Josh Auty in heat 12.

And the absence of both Jonasson and Stachyra – coupled with Pirates having used their quota of rider replacements – left the visitors unable to track any team members in the penultimate heat.

Stachyra’s injury capped a hugely forgettable night for the Pole, who mustered just two points, while Rohan Tungate, one of the club’s few shining lights this season, was also out of sorts.

Skipper Chris Holder (15) and heat leader Maciej Janowski (15+1) both held up their respective ends, while Przemyslaw Pawlicki weighed in with paid seven points.

Ford told the Daily Echo: “Tomas was fighting to score some points in the second heat but lost it as he tried to go around Nicolas Covatti. He damaged ribs and that put him out of the meeting. He left the stadium soon after and was trying to get a flight home to have treatment as soon as possible.

“In all honesty, Dawid Stachyra was very poor in his first five races but showed some determination in his last race, only for him and Josh Auty to collide. You couldn’t really tell who was at fault but the referee excluded Dawid.

“Chris, Maciej and Przemyslaw all tried and, if we’d had two or three more of those guys then we would have had more success. It was a real shame we couldn’t put up more of a fight. I can’t knock Rohan because although he made a lot of mistakes, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. It wasn’t a good performance though.”

Defeat, which ended Pirates’ 100 per cent away record against Birmingham, left the Dorset outfit second from bottom in the Elite League, currently 12 points adrift of Swindon, who occupy the final play-off place in fourth position.

Pirates made an encouraging start when skipper Holder lowered the colours of Ben Barker in the opener with Danny King taking a tumble after trying to pass Tungate, who finished third.

However, disaster struck in the next when Jonasson misjudged the top turn and crashed heavily, resulting in the Brummies being awarded a 5-1.

Matters went from bad to worse for the visitors with Jason Doyle and Martin Smolinski and then Chris Harris and Auty registering successive 5-1s for the hosts.

And with Pirates on an 8-1 after Holder had taken a tactical ride in heat five, Tungate was judged to have impeded Doyle and was disqualified. Holder did manage to win the re-run, reducing the deficit to seven.

Janowski chalked up his first win in heat six, although the Pole had to ride solo as Stachyra was ruled out due to insufficient available rides.

Despite a tardy gate in heat seven, Pawlicki managed to work his way into second, splitting Brummies pair Harris and Covatti.

A tapes infringement saw Tungate receive a 15-metre handicap at the start of heat eight with the hosts profiting to forge further ahead thanks to a 5-1 from Barker and Auty.

Smolinski ruined Janowski’s chances of taking six points from a tactical ride in heat nine, Pirates having to settle for a 4-4 after Stachyra had suffered his second retirement of the meeting.

Barker swept past Janowski and Pawlicki to take the chequered flag in heat 10 before Holder recorded a facile win in the next, although Tungate’s miserable night continued when he fell.

Pawlicki’s win in heat 12 was followed by a 5-1 from Holder and Janowski, although Pirates were unable to track any riders in heat 14 and subsequently fell further behind.

Janowski led home Barker and Smolinski in the finale, the Brummies duo denying Holder the maximum his efforts had deserved.

RIDERS’ SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

Birmingham 54: 1 Danny King (f-1*-0-0) 1+1, 2 Ben Barker (2-2-3-3-2) 12, 3 Martin Smolinski (2*-2-3-2-1*) 10+2, 4 Jason Doyle (3-1*-1-3) 8+1, 5 Chris Harris (3-3-1*-1) 8+1, 6 Nicolas Covatti (2*-1-2-2*) 7+2, 7 Josh Auty (3-2*-2*-1*) 8+3. Team managers: Phil Morris and Graham Drury.

Pirates 40: 1 Chris Holder (3-6^-3-3-0) 15, 2 Rohan Tungate (1-1-exc-0-fell) 2, 3 Przemyslaw Pawlicki (0-2-1*-3) 6+1, 4 Rider replacement, 5 Maciej Janowski (1-3-4^-2-2*-3) 15+1, 6 Dawid Stachyra (1-rtd-0-1-rtd-exc) 2, 7 Tomas H Jonasson (fx) withdrew. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Ht 1: Holder, Barker, Tungate, King (fell), 58.59 (4-2)

Ht 2: (awarded) Auty, Covatti, Stachyra, Jonasson (fell/exc) (5-7)

Ht 3: Doyle, Smolinski, Tungate, Pawlicki, 59.69 (6-12)

Ht 4: Harris, Auty, Janowski, Stachyra (rtd), 59.19 (7-17)

Ht 5: Holder (tactical ride, double points), Smolinski, Doyle, Tungate (dsq) 58.90 (13-20)

Ht 6: Janowski, Barker, King, Stachyra (n/s), 59.75 (16-23)

Ht 7: Harris, Pawlicki, Covatti, Stachyra, 59.06 (18-27)

Ht 8: Barker, Auty, Stachyra, Tungate (15m, tapes), 61.18 (19-32)

Ht 9: Smolinski, Janowski (tactical ride, double points) Doyle, Stachyra (rtd), 59.53 (23-36)

Ht 10: Barker, Janowski, Pawlicki, King, 59.88 (26-39)

Ht 11: Holder, Covatti, Harris, Tungate, 59.50 (29-42)

Ht 12: Pawlicki, Smolinski, Auty, Stachyra, 59.81 (32-45)

Ht 13: Holder, Janowski, Harris, King, 60.16 (37-46)

Ht 14: Doyle, Covatti, no rider, no rider, (37-51)

Ht 15: Janowski, Barker, Smolinski, Holder, 60.16 (40-54)