POOLE moved up to third spot in the Elite League after a resounding 61-29 win over Oxford at Wimborne Road last night.

Despite having won at Poole in the Craven Shield, Oxford - tracking former Pirates Craig Boyce and Alun Rossiter - struggled on this occasion.

Poole took the lead through Matej Ferjan and Scott Nicholls in heat three, the same pairing adding anoth-er 5-1 in heat 5 to click the Pirates into action.

Paul Hurry and Boyce showed some fight with a couple of second placings and a 4-2 from Inter-Continental champion Todd Wiltshire and Jan Staechmann pegged back Poole's lead to ten points after heat eight.

Boyce, his back stiff from a crash in Sweden the previous night, was denied second place on the line after a brilliant ride from Lee Richardson in heat ten. The next race was also a thriller as Magnus Zetterstrom and Mark Loram reversed a 5-1 situation from Wiltshire and Staechmann.

Unhappy with Zetterstrom's tactics from the start of heat 14, Hurry was in a hurry as he almost fenced partner Boyce and then Zetterstrom on separate laps before finally nailing Ferjan on the line for a great win.

Nicholls and Loram both scored paid maximums for the Pirates with Loram going on to retain the Golden Helmet from challenger Hurry, who was top scorer for the Cheetahs with nine points.

POOLE: (bonus points in brackets): Mark Loram 14 (1), Scott Nicholls 12 (3), Matej Ferfan 10 (1), Gary Havelock 9 (1), Mag-nus Zetterstrom 8 (1), Lee Richardson 7 (1), Oliver Allen 1 (1).

Poole are at home again tomorrow against King's Lynn in the second leg of the Star KO Cup. The winners meet Coventry in the semi-finals.

Southampton lost their Conference Challenge against St Austell 58-31. Chris Courage was top scorer with 11 points from six rides with guest Chris Harris and Jay Stevens adding eight apiece.

A meeting at the Trojans Sports Club, Stoneham Lane, Eastleigh, tonight (7pm) could bring the return of speedway to Southampton a step closer. Plans will be formulated for the Saints to be revived in the year 2000 racing on a three-acre site near Hedge End.

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