PIRATES chief Matt Ford admitted the speed of Darcy Ward’s rise had taken him by surprise and described as “wonderful business” the club record deal that brought him to Wimborne Road.

Ford reflected on the big-money transfer as Ward prepared to lock horns tonight with former employers King’s Lynn, who sold the top talent to Pirates in November 2009.

Having cut his teeth with Stars, the Australian made the move to Wimborne Road when Ford splashed out in excess of £28,000 to secure his services.

Since then, the two-times world under-21 champion has rewarded Pirates by establishing himself as one of the Elite League’s leading riders.

Pirates promoter Ford beat a number of rival outfits to the signing of Ward and has long tipped the teenager for world stardom. But the rapid nature of the hot prospect’s development has even exceeded Ford’s lofty expectations.

He told the Daily Echo: “While everybody in speedway expected him to be a tremendous rider, I don’t know if we all expected it to be quite this quick.

“If he had been in his 20s and achieving these things, I think we would have all understood it.

“But he is exceptional. He is an unbelievable talent and is achieving things a lot quicker than, perhaps, we all imagined.”

Discussing the deal that saw Ward swap King’s Lynn for Poole, Ford said: “At the time, it was the right move for King’s Lynn because they did not, at that point, believe they would be coming into the Elite League.

“It was a great bit of business for us because everyone could clearly see this kid was going to go to the top. Along the way, there are going to be high points and some medium points to get there.

“But everything that people love about the sport, you can see in Darcy Ward.”

Ward and fellow Aussie Chris Holder have formed a highly productive partnership for the Dorset club and Ford believes it is a “wonderful period” in Pirates’ history.

He added: “This is as good as it gets. As long as I have been going to speedway, it has never been any better than it is now.”

Fans will get an opportunity to see the pair in action tonight when high-flying Stars visit Wimborne Road for Poole’s last home meeting before a three-week gap.

King’s Lynn are sitting pretty in third place and Pirates have named an unchanged line-up as they aim to continue the form which has taken them to the top of the standings.

Pirates: 1 Chris Holder, 2 Dennis Andersson, 3 Davey Watt, 4 Jason Doyle, 5 Darcy Ward, 6 Kyle Newman, 7 Renat Gafurov.

Stars: 1 Kenneth Bjerre, 2 Tomas Topinka, 3 Olly Allen, 4 Mads Korneliussen, 5 Niels-Kristian Iversen, 6 Lasse Bjerre, 7 Filip Sitera.