COVENTRY endured a forgettable night at Blunsdon on Thursday as reigning Elite League Champions Swindon eased to a 59-36 win over the Buildbase Bees.
Captain Scott Nicholls aside, it was a disappointing showing from the Bees who showed none of the form which was evident at another of the league’s big circuits, Peterborough, less than a month ago where they ran up a massive away win.
This time, Bees appeared beaten for speed either directly from the start or in the actual run to the first bend, with four Swindon 5-1s in the last four races wiping out the damage limitation which had take place to that point.
The home side took control with three 5-1s in the first five heats, gaining a stroke of fortune in the opening race with a re-run going in their favour, Nick Morris taking his second chance to lead – and when he inadvertently blocked Krzysztof Kasprzak on the last lap, Hans Andersen shot through to join his partner.
The Robins added a clear 5-1 in Heat 2 and a 4-2 in Heat 3 when Grzegorz Zengota fell, Stuart Robson having overtaken Edward Kennett for second place, and although Bees managed a 4-2 in Heat 4 which Nicholls won, Kasprzak was outpaced by Kennett and Peter Kildemand in Heat 5 leaving Bees 21-9 down.
Nicholls went for double points in Heat 6 but had to be content with four points as Andersen took the flag, Bees at least gaining a 5-3 with Michal Szczepaniak holding off Morris who had got out of shape on turn two.
The next three heats were shared, although in Heat 8 Bees finally made the best starts only for Morris to surge around both Szczepaniak and Zengota – and also in Heat 9 the visitors seemed to have made a promising start only for Kennett and Kildemand to go either side of guest Kevin Doolan and pack in behind Nicholls.
A clear Swindon 5-1 in Heat 10 opened up the second tactical ride for the Bees, when they had their strongest pairing in the race, and Kasprzak clamped off Troy Batchelor in turn one to allow Nicholls to join him, the resultant 8-1 bringing the score back to 39-32 and giving Coventry hope of salvaging a point.
But that hope was quickly extinguished as mechanical trouble put Zengota out of second place in Heat 12, the first of four successive maximums for the home side who consistently arrived into the first bend in front.
Despite considerable efforts, Nicholls was unable to break the Andersen/Batchelor and then Andersen/Kildemand partnerships in Heats 13 and 15, the end result being a paid maximum for Andersen and a heavy defeat for the Bees.
Promoter Mick Horton said: “I’m very disappointed with the performance, and really it’s not acceptable to me and the club.
“Apart from a couple of riders tonight, the rest were below expectation levels and I’m not really sure whether Swindon were that good or we were just so bad.â€
SWINDON 59: Peter Kildemand 13+1, Hans Andersen 12+3, Troy Batchelor 9, Nick Morris 8+1, Kacper Gomolski 8+1, Edward Kennett 7+2, Cameron Heeps 2+1. BUILDBASE BEES 36: Scott Nicholls 14+1, Krzysztof Kasprzak 8, Michal Szczepaniak 5+1, Stuart Robson 5, Grzegorz Zengota 3+2, Kevin Doolan 1, Olly Allen r/r.
