WOLVERHAMPTON gave holders Poole a huge scare at Wimborne Road before bowing out of the Knockout Cup at the quarter-final stage.

Parrys International Wolves trailed by 15-points from the home leg but had improbably clawed back eight of that deficit at the Pirates’ fortress before just falling away in the closing stages.

Wolves’ performance forced the Pirates to call for a ‘man on man’ match race under the KO Cup regulations, enabling star man Darcy Ward to pull back three points by defeating Freddie Lindgren midway through the meeting.

But Wolves still led by a point on the night with two heats to go and were in with a real chance of ending Poole’s 100 per cent start to the season – only to concede 5-1s in both of those races.

There were plenty of encouraging signs, however, with Pontus Aspgren much-improved on his second visit to the Dorset venue, Ty Proctor and Robert Miskowiak in double figures, and club asset Ashley Morris – called in at late notice to replace Lukasz Sowka – picked up two excellent third places against the home reserves.

Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “It was a more than respectable performance. We’ve noticed that Poole have been pushed hard here in their last two home matches, and we were determined to put on a show.

“We pushed them all the way and just lost out at the end, which most teams do when they come up against Holder and Ward – they are exceptional.

“Everyone contributed, some more than I thought they might before the start, and they were a credit to the club. We’re out of the Cup now which is disappointing, but we can concentrate on the league.”

POOLE: Darcy Ward 20+1, Chris Holder 12+1, Ricky Kling 8, Todd Kurtz 5+1, Sam Masters 4+1, Jordan Frampton 1, Adrian Miedzinski R/R.

WOLVERHAMPTON 43: Freddie Lindgren 11+2, Ty Proctor 10+2, Robert Miskowiak 10, Pontus Aspgren 6+2, Ricky Wells 4, Ashley Morris 2+1, Tai Woffinden R/R.