LARS Gunnestad rolled back the years by marking his Poole comeback with a thrilling 12-point match-winning haul against the Eagles.

The nifty Norwegian, dropped by Poole mid-season in 1998, roared to three heat wins - one paid behind Gary Havelock - from five rides as Pirates began their 2000 campaign with a hard-earned victory.

And he had the home fans on the edge of their seats, especially during his dramatic heat eight triumph from the back over Petri Kokko and Dean Barker.

The experienced 29-year-old endured a barren patch in 1998 when he lost all confidence but that looks to be a thing of the past.

He said: "That was a good meeting for me but I am just going to keep my feet on the ground. We have a very good team and it is not easy to be our top scorer, so I'm really pleased."

It was a good job Gunnestad was on top form because Poole new boys Emil Lindqvist (4), Justin Elkins (1) and Craig Watson (0) all endured a tough time, while Mark Loram (9+1) and Scott Nicholls (10+1) only showed glimpses of their breathtaking 1999 form against the Eagles.

Gary Havelock teamed up particularly well with the Norwegian and they show-ed enough combined track craft to indicate they could become one of the top domestic pairings this year.

They also saved Pirates from an opening-day defeat in front of a healthy early season crowd of 2,500 as Martin Dugard and Paul Hurry were on a match-winning 5-1 at the end of the first lap in heat 15.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.