COVENTRY came close to snatching a point from new Elite League leaders Swindon – but in the end came away from Blunsdon empty-handed.
The Buildbase Bees had cause to rue the events of Heat 14 when they held a 5-1 position as Robins’ Dawid Lampart fell and failed to clear the track to enable the race to continue.
When the re-start took place with Lampart disqualified, his team-mate Jason Doyle headed Michal Szczepaniak and Kenni Larsen for a shared heat – and to add insult to injury Bees skipper Chris Harris fell whilst second in the last race as Swindon finished with a 5-1.
By that stage, Bees had already seen Adam Roynon taken to hospital after a Heat 11 crash, having suffered possible rib damage as he hit the fence – hardly an ideal way to celebrate his 24th birthday.
Pre-meeting rain meant tricky conditions and there were a series of incidents during the match, Bees having the better of things initially but going behind to a 5-1 from Doyle and Peter Kildemand in Heat 3.
Harris and Scott Nicholls both kept up their excellent form from Peterborough on Monday and won Heats 5 and 6 to keep Bees in contention, but things began to go away from them when Kenni Larsen crashed in Heat 7 and the home side took the next two races by a 9-3 margin.
A likely Swindon 4-2 became a 3-3 in Heat 9 when Doyle fell, but they did extend the lead over ten points with a 4-2 in Heat 10 thanks to guest Rory Schein’s win over Edward Kennett.
When Harris went for double-points in Heat 11 the race was first stopped due to Roynon’s accident, and then in the re-start the Bees captain was denied by a fast start from Troy Batchelor.
But Coventry’s hopes of salvaging something increased with a 5-0 in Heat 13 as both Batchelor and Schlein crashed out for the home team, and that left the scores at 43-35 with two heats to go.
The pressure could really have been on the Robins had Bees been able to secure their deserved 5-1 from Heat 14 but Lampart’s fall and Doyle’s subsequent win changed the picture entirely, and the home side duly wrapped up maximum points in the finale.
Manager Blayne Scroggins said: "The boy cheated, simple as that. He got up, looked and then went back down again, and that's disappointing. They're meant to be professional speedway riders.
"I spoke to the referee because there's got to be some way that we can get something out of that, but the argument was that they have to complete two laps.
"We weren't firing on all cylinders, but the track was catching a lot of people out and the rain made it very difficult. It's a fast track and when you go in tight there's nowhere to go, and Adam has had a nasty fall."
SWINDON 51: Peter Kildemand 11+1, Jason Doyle 10+1, Dawid Lampart 9+1, Rory Schlein 8, Troy Batchelor 8, Simon Stead 3+1, Nick Morris 2.
BUILDBASE BEES 39: Chris Harris 13, Scott Nicholls 10+1, Edward Kennett 7, Michal Szczepaniak 5, Adam Roynon 2, Kenni Larsen 1+1, Leigh Lanham 1+1.
SWINDON 51 Rory Schlein 2 3 3 X = 8 Simon Stead 0 1 2* = 3+1 Peter Kildemand 2* 0 3 3 3 = 11+1 Jason Doyle 3 2 X 3 2* = 10+1 Troy Batchelor 2 3 3 X = 8 Nick Morris X 1 1 = 2 Dawid Lampart 3 1* 3 1 1 X = 9+1
BUILDBASE BEES 39 Chris Harris 3 3 4& 3 X = 13 Adam Roynon 1 1 R X = 2 Edward Kennett 1 2 2 2 = 7 Kenni Larsen 0 X 0 1* = 1+1 Scott Nicholls 3 2 2 2* 1 = 10+1 Leigh Lanham R 0 1* = 1+1 Michal Szczepaniak 2 0 1 0 2 = 5
