TITLE-chasing Pirates never had to get out of second gear as they romped to easy victory over a poor Peterborough team last night.

Poole Castle Cover's class of 2008 virtually guaranteed a home draw in the play-offs after crushing Panthers comprehensively.

Chris Holder and Magnus Zetterstrom cruised to a 5-1 over ex-Pirates pair Ryan Sullivan and Lukas Dryml in the opening heat to set the tone for the whole meeting.

In the end, Pirates' win was so convincing their fans must have been wondering how Peterborough had managed to become the last team to defeat their championship-chasing outfit.

Back on June 4, Panthers had caught Poole napping in the aftermath of a 50-40 home reverse against Ipswich to take advantage of loss of confidence in the home ranks and triumph 46-44.

It was a completely different story last night, despite relegation-threatened Peterborough supposedly having a stronger side after making three changes in the last few weeks in a bid to avoid bottom spot.

With Davey Watt (12), Bjarne Pedersen (11 paid 13) and Magnus Zetterstrom (nine paid 10) leading the way, Pirates - with a club top-flight record of 12 league wins now behind them - looked like a well-oiled unit destined for the title play-off final.

Holder suffered a rare engine failure that curtailed his scoring, but with Adam Skornicki, Daniel Davidsson and Freddie Eriksson all doing their jobs, it was no contest.

It might have been different if Karol Zabik, who rode for Poole earlier this year, had been able to return for his new club.

But injury kept the Pole away, and Panthers' other two former Pirates men, Sullivan and Dryml, were big disappointments, notching only six between them.

Peterborough must have been banking on that duo to have each challenged for double figures, but Sullivan clearly needs time to readjust to British tracks after spending time away.

Dryml is nowhere near the rider he was in 2003 when he regularly lit up Wimborne Road while starring for Poole as they completed the treble and also challenged Tony Rickardsson for top spot in the Grand Prix.

Determined trio Daniel King (11), Kenneth Bjerre (nine) and Ty Proctor (six), who took four chequered flags between them, tried their hardest to stem the flow of Pirates points.

Poole, without a weak link though, were relentless.

In fact, only a surprise Proctor-Claus Vissing maximum in heat 14 really troubled them, with Vissing and Skornicki exchanging heated words on the track after the race had finished.

With Vissing appearing to turn left early on some of the bends as he worked overtime to keep Skornicki and Eriksson at bay, it could have been the Dane's tactics that riled the Polish champion.

Their disagreement failed to take the gloss off another big win for Pirates as they head into the play-offs in form and with plenty of confidence.