IT'S usually close when the Buildbase Bees and Swindon go head to head at Brandon - and on this occasion they couldn't be separated after 15 highly competitive heats of Elite League action.
There was none of the tactical ride drama which occurred in the Robins' last visit, but this was still a topsy-turvy encounter with the Bees twice moving into what should have been a winning position but in the end grateful for a Chris Harris salvage operation in Heat 15 for the draw.
Exactly how much use that result is will only be known at the end of the season, because it was still a 2-1 outcome in terms of League points in favour of one of the Bees' closest rivals - although some counterbalance for that is the fact that Coventry took the 'A' fixtures by a 5-1 margin, but it is going to make success at various away venues, including Blunsdon, all the more important.
This meeting could not have started any better - in fact, it almost started too well! Leigh Adams has run one solitary last place at Brandon since rejoining Swindon in 2004 - but in what was likely to be his final appearance, he made that two in Heat 1 as he was unable to get anything together behind Harris and Ben Barker, and finished behind his team-mate Morten Risager.
But nobody was foolish enough to believe that was anything other than a blip from the Australian star, and true to form Adams remained unbeaten for the remainder of the meeting.
Buoyed by the unexpected opening, Bees made hay as the sun went in, securing another fine 5-1 in Heat 2 thanks to a fast start from Richard Sweetman and a good first lap from Przemyslaw Pawlicki, using the outside line to take him ahead of Cory Gathercole around turns three and four.
But the Robins' fightback began almost instantaneously as after an unsatisfactory start in Heat 3 with Mads Korneliussen moving, Korneliussen and Grzegorz Zengota shot from the tapes to leave Lewis Bridger and Edward Kennett in their wake and halve the deficit with their first 5-1 of the night.
If that was unexpected, the outcome of Heat 4 was as well with Simon Stead trapping and being joined at the front by Thomas H Jonasson, who had clearly righted what had gone wrong in Heat 2, and took the chance to go past Pawlicki when the Pole went too wide a the start of the second lap. Jonasson then had the beating of Krzysztof Kasprzak throughout the race as the Robins levelled the scores at 12-12.
It was Swindon from the gate again in Heat 5 but this time the Bees duo had the run on Morten Risager, who was sent down to third place by Bridger on the back straight, and then to the back by Kennett on turns three and four to leave the scores level one-third of the way through the contest.
Stead then became the third star name of the evening to find himself trailing, this time in Heat 6 as he was mired at the back behind Ben Barker, Gathercole avoiding too much damage for Swindon by holding second place behind Harris.
The 4-2 edged the Bees back in front and Kasprzak got a win on the board with a determined first-lap effort in Heat 7, making his way around Zengota after all four riders had exited turn two together with Sweetman the unlucky man who had to give way.
Heat 8 was another Bees 4-2, so nearly a 5-1 and so nearly a disaster too as Pawlicki put in a ride which was entertaining and frightening in equal measure, boldly moving alongside Jonasson going into the last lap and then almost riding onto the greyhound track as he went into unchartered territory on turn two before regaining momentum and still holding on to his third place, Barker having controlled the race from the front.
Back came Swindon with a 4-2 in Heat 9, Stead fending off Bridger with Gathercole in third spot ahead of Kennett who was enduring a troubled night, as whatever changes he was making failed to have the desired effect.
There was drama in Heat 10 with Korneliussen and Zengota out-trapping Harris and Barker, only for Harris to attempt to go between the pair off turn two but be taken out by Zengota's rear wheel causing the Bees skipper to fall spectacularly up the back straight.
Fortunately he was able to walk away from the incident and with Zengota rightly disqualified the Bees took their second chance with both hands, shuffling Korneliussen out early on with Barker producing an effective defensive ride in second place. The 5-1 put Bees six points to the good - and at that stage, it looked like it might just be enough to hold onto even though Swindon were expected to come back strongly.
They did exactly that, and for all but four laps of Heat 11 they held a 5-1 position from Adams and Jonasson ahead of Kasprzak, who wasn't in his usual fast-gating form but who did manage to snatch a vital second place on the line with a clever switch-back having previously threatened to make his move on the outside.
There was an upset result in Heat 12 with Gathercole making the start and riding four perfect laps to head Pawlicki home, the Bees man given enough to think about by third-placed Korneliussen to prevent any serious challenge on the Australian.
And the Robins appeared to put themselves in total control in Heat 13 when Adams and Stead flew off gates one and three and rode together perfectly to resist every attempt of Harris to find a way through - leaving them in front for the first time at 40-38, and with two strong pairings to come.
But then there was a throwback to 2009 as the Bees came alive again in Heat 14, and it was a stunning first two bends from Bridger and Pawlicki to get themselves to the front - and then a scary fourth bend as Pawlicki lifted and almost caused Bridger a problem. After that, they rode home for the 5-1 with no further alarms, and that left Bees with an unlikely lead to defend in the decider.
Not that that was going to be remotely easy given the fast gating of Adams and Stead, even though Bees had won the toss, and it was no great surprise when Adams hit the front from gate two - the bigger problem came when Stead surged under Harris and into second place going into turn three. Had he been able to link with Adams again, Bees were surely looking at a defeat, so Harris had to take swift action, and this he did by driving hard back under Stead going into lap two, and that was the move which ultimately saved a point even if by this stage there was absolutely no catching Adams.
Both sides will probably feel they missed their chances to win this meeting, both sides will also know how close they came to losing it - a draw was probably fair, but as is the case with every level speedway match at the conclusion, this was a better result for the visitors and one which the Buildbase Bees will need to hit back from.
BUILDBASE BEES 45 Chris Harris 3 3 3 1 2 = 12 Ben Barker 2* 1 3 2* 0 = 8+2 Edward Kennett 0 1* 0 0 = 1+1 Lewis Bridger 1 2 2 2* = 7+1 Krzysztof Kasprzak 1 3 2 0 = 6 Richard Sweetman 2* 0 0 = 2+1 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 3 R 1 2 3 = 9
