Poole Pirates 56, Oxford Silver Machine 34: Leon Hill reports on a bad night for Oxford's speedway stars.

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Oxford Silver Machine were beaten out of the gate at Wimborne Road on Monday night and will need a miracle if they are to make it through to the Knockout Cup final.

The writing was on the wall early on in the semi-final first leg as the Pirates raced to a maximum in the first heat, with Nicki Pedersen easily taking Todd Wiltshire from the back.

Travis McGowan made a lightning start for Oxford in the second heat, and with Andy Smith battling through for the third place, the difference was down to just two points.

But Silver Machine just seemed to have no answer to the Pirates, who dominated the next few races and by heat eight were 12 points up.

Oxford promoter Nigel Wagstaff wasted no time in bringing out the tactical substitutes, and when Greg Hancock lined up in heat eight with Sebastian Ulamek, hopes were high that the Silver Machine could claim maximum points and reduce the points difference.

Hancock easily won the heat, but Ulamek totally missed the start and trailed in last so that the tactical substitute was effectively wasted.

Wagstaff was not to be deterred, however, as he followed this up with another tactical substitute outing - the impressive Kaj Laukkanen.

This time, it worked as Hancock won the heat once again and Laukkanen forced his way past David Norris to give Oxford only their second heat advantage all night.

Oxford's fortunes worsened when Charlie Gjedde, who was pointless, was pulled out of his third ride and replaced with reserve McGowan.

As expected, the heat was too much for the young Australian and it was another maximum for the home side and the deficit was 14 points going into the interval.

The result on the night was sealed after the Pirates notched up their fifth maximum heat win.