Swindon Robins 44 Wolverhampton 48: Meeting report

A surprise loss to bottom of the table Leicester on Wednesday evening saw the Swindon Robins come into last night's meeting with a point to prove and, with visitors Wolverhampton having only rode once so far all season in a victory over the Coventry Bees, many were expecting an easy Swindon win. However what lay in store for the home team was anything but.

 

The Swindon Robins came into the night with a full strength squad, while Wolverhampton Wolves had Ashley Morris guesting for Max Clegg in reserve. And as the tapes rose for the first heat of the night with Swindon riding out of gates 1 and 3, the Wolverhampton Wolves came out flying taking their first of two 5 -1 heat maximums on the night thanks to number one Joonas Kylmakorpi and Sam Masters. A shock opening heat result meant that a positive response from the home side was needed quickly, but with only one heat win out of the first four heats, Swindon manager Alun Rossiter knew his men were in for a tough night of racing.

 

Things on the night for the Swindon Robins were made even harder when any home advantage was taken away by the state of the track. Heavy rain earlier in the week made track preparation difficult for the Wiltshire club, and with six track grading’s being needed on the night to sort out difficulties in both turns one and three, the Swindon Robins faced an uphill task to get anything from the meeting.

 

With no heat advantage come the halfway stage the Swindon Robins went into the break trailing by 14 points with a score of 17 – 31. A difficult opening period for the home team saw Alun Rossiter do all he good to rally his men onto victory and an inspired 5-1 heat maximum performance from Aussie duo Josh Grajczonek and Nick Morris in heat 12 raised the atmosphere around the Abbey stadium and encouraged the Swindon Robins to a great degree.

 

Still trailing by 10 points on the night after ten heats, Rossiter sent out club Captain Jason Doyle on a tactical ride in heat 11 who was partnered by Charles Wright in place of Justin Sedgmen. A great start from gate 1 by Wolverhampton’s number three Jacob Thorsell however meant that Doyle had his work cut out if he was to finish the heat with a six point maximum. But with both sets of riders struggling to find any overtaking lines on the night Doyle could only manage second with Charles Wright finishing third to give a heat advantage of 5 -3, and a gap of eight points between the two teams with just four heats left.

 

Two more race wins in heats 12 and 13 saw the Robins impressively close the gap to just 6 points with just the final two heats of the night to come. However with a 5-1 home win being needed to take the meeting result into the final heat of the night, the Wolverhampton duo of Jacob Thorssell and Freddie Lindgren rode intelligently to draw the penultimate heat and give the Wolverhampton Wolves their second win of the season.

 

An honourable mention on the night however must go to Swindon’s Charles Wright, who after dislocating his shoulder on Wednesday against Leicester rode to the highest score of the night with an impressive 15+2.

 

A tough couple of days racing for the Swindon Robins sees them sit in 7th place after four meetings with 3 points. A tough meeting next week against the Belle Vue Aces gives Alun Rossiter and his men the perfect opportunity to bounce back.

 

 

SWINDON 44: Charles Wright 15+2, Jason Doyle 14, Josh Grajczonek 8+1, Nick Morris 4, Justin Sedgmen 2, Stefan Nielsen 1+1, Rohan Tungate 0

 

WOLVERHAMPTON 48: Fredrik Lindgren 10, Kyle Howarth 9+1, Sam Masters 8+1, Jacob Thorssell 7+1, Joonas Kylmakorpi 6+1, Mikkel Bech 6, Ashley Morris 2+2