TEAM boss Cami Brown praised his side’s “fighting spirit” after the home defeat by Poole.
The Allied Vehicles Tigers went down 46-44 to the Cab Direct Championship league leaders Pirates at Ashfield Stadium on Friday night.
The patched-up home side, without key heat leader Steve Worrall, suffered a first home league defeat since the end of 2022, also inflicted by Poole.
Captain and No.1 Chris Harris featured in three more absolute classic races including a blistering pass of Tom Brennan in Heat 6 and a sensational Heat 10 where he passed and then was re-passed by the excellent Ben Cook.
Harris also had to fight from the back in Heats 13 and 15 but Richard Lawson won the crucial last heat decider.
Brown said: “We were probably underdogs coming into this meeting without Steve and James Pearson was struggling with illness.
“However no excuses from us, we were beaten by the better team on the night.
“But I have to say our fighting spirit this season has been outstanding. The boys really got stuck in early on and battled hard to keep Poole at bay.
“They are a fantastic side and favourites to reclaim the league title we took off them last season.
“We’ve got to pick ourselves up quickly from this setback. It’s going to be very tight now to try and get into the top four and the play-offs.
“But we will give it everything we’ve got to hang on to our league title.”