SERGEY Darkin suffered a Pirates debut nightmare as they held off a strong Eastbourne challenge to win on opening night.

The 33-year-old, the first Russian to wear the skull and crossbones race jacket, only gained entry to England following visa problems on Tuesday.

And, with no outdoor practice in his homeland or anywhere else since last season, he was well off the pace as he finished last four times against the Eagles.

Then he suffered another big blow, failing to get away from the tapes with mechanical problems in a special heat 16 held in memory of lifelong Poole Castle Cover supporter Shirley Allen, who died over the winter.

That meant Darkin - brought in by Pirates as a six-point man minimum - ended up pointless in his first meeting as a regular Pirate.

And, with reserves Jason Doyle and Troy Batchelor also suffering early on, it saw new look Poole struggle to make the impression they would have wanted in front of their home fans for the first time this season.

With those three all off colour, although Doyle and Batchelor redeemed themselves later on, it gave Eastbourne the chance to inflict a major surprise by turning Poole over on their own track.

Indeed, the Eagles - with the always-controversial Nicki Pedersen prominent - twice led and forced Pirates into a last heat decider on the night and for the aggregate result as well.

But Bjarne Pedersen and Jason Crump, the two Grand Prix stars given the task of spearheading the Dorset club to glory this year, both reeled off maximums to shade the verdict in Poole's favour.

And only just shade it Pirates did, as Eastbourne's solid looking side, with no weak link, tried to hang on to their three-point lead from the first leg at Arlington.

Bjarne and Crump were both superb, and never looked like being beaten by an opponent all night, although Nicki tried his best, along with Davey Watt.

With Edward Kennett impressing for his seven paid eight from a reserve berth and evergreen Craig Boyce getting seven on an untried engine, Poole just did enough in front of a 3,000 crowd on a cold night.

Darkin gated well in his first two outings, but fell from second to fourth when he was edged sideways by Nicki in heat three and never competed on the first corner in race five.

He was last out in heat nine before getting out well in race 14 to lead on the first lap only to slip back to fourth again.