COVENTRY’S recent revival came to a disappointing halt as Elite League leaders Swindon snatched a late win at Brandon on Wednesday.
The Buildbase Bees led from Heat 3 to Heat 14, their advantage being up to ten points at one stage, but the alarm bells were ringing from an early stage with the regularity of Swindon race wins.
Bees took the flag in just four of the fifteen races, and none of them came from their heat-leaders – with two victories from a very impressive Adam Roynon and one apiece from Kenni Larsen and lively debutant Michal Szczepaniak.
After six heats Bees had carded three 5-1s and were 22-14 up, with Peter Kildemand having suffered two bouts of mechanical trouble for the visitors – although the home side weren’t helped by a pile-up in Heat 5 when Larsen and Hans Andersen came to grief in a close first bend with Edward Kennett.
Swindon’s Nick Morris then crashed in Heat 8 when trying to pass Roynon, leaving Bees 29-19 ahead, but their opportunity to seize the initiative was missed when Kildemand came up with a fast start to win Heat 9.
Troy Batchelor then dominated Heat 10 for double-points in a 7-2 for the visitors, and their momentum grew with 4-2s in Heats 11 and 13 whilst Simon Stead held Kennett at bay to win Heat 12 after partner Dawid Lampart had come down.
Lampart crashed again in Heat 14 and was fortunate to escape injury when he hit the fence hard exiting turn two, but Batchelor still won the re-run, with the gap down to one point by this stage.
And although Swindon had never led the meeting prior to that, there was something rather inevitable about the last-race 5-1 from Batchelor and Andersen over Scott Nicholls and Harris which gave the Robins the win.
Bees manager Blayne Scroggins said: “I’m bitterly disappointed, and really the big boys let us down tonight. We had a team meeting beforehand, they knew what was expected and unfortunately they didn’t deliver.
“In the second half of the meeting we seemed to forget how to gate. Our boys were moaning that gate four was rubbish all night, and then in Heat 15 they (Swindon) go and choose it, which nobody was expecting, and not only that, they got the win off gates 2 and 4.
“Early-doors we looked good but certain riders have let themselves and the club down tonight. We out-scored them at reserve, Michal was good, and Adam was brilliant again, but we just didn’t score enough at the top.â€
BUILDBASE BEES 45: Adam Roynon 8, Chris Harris 7+2, Scott Nicholls 7+1, Kenni Larsen 6+2, Michal Szczepaniak 6+2, Edward Kennett 6+1, Aaron Summers 5+2.
SWINDON 48: Troy Batchelor 16, Hans Andersen 12+1, Dawid Lampart 7, Peter Kildemand 6, Simon Stead 4, Nick Morris 2+1, Josh Grajczonek 1.
