DANNY King and Chris Harris combined for a Heat 15 5-1 to give Coventry a league point from a 43-47 defeat in a dramatic Elite League contest at Swindon on Tuesday.
The Buildbase Bees had led for much of the meeting only for a series of setbacks to turn the match the Robins’ way, but the last-race response at least gave the visitors something from the meeting, which was the least they deserved.
But the prime concern is over No.1 Hans Andersen, who was involved in an horrific first-bend crash in Heat 13 when he was sandwiched between Harris and Swindon’s Nick Morris and fell heavily on the track.
Andersen somehow walked away from the incident but was unable to ride again and was set for a trip to hospital to assess a hand injury as well as possible mild concussion.
The Dane had started the meeting in fine form with wins in his opening two outings, a feat matched by Danny King, who celebrated his call-up for the Great Britain World Cup team with a double success of his own in easily the fastest times of the night.
Bees took an early lead thanks to their reserve duo of James Sarjeant and Jason Garrity grabbing a 5-1 in Heat 2 with Garrity steaming under Lewis Rose on turn three, but Swindon levelled the scores in Heat 5 with a 4-2 after a ragged start which was allowed to continue.
Harris had overhauled Troy Batchelor for second place in Heat 3 and he was involved in more close action before settling for third in Heat 6 for a 4-2 with Andersen which put Bees back ahead.
The two-point lead was maintained across four shared races which followed, although at times there were opportunities for both sides to make progress.
King and Sarjeant charged away from the start in Heat 9 only to be undone by Kyle Howarth’s inside switch off turn four to take him from third to first - whilst in Heat 10 Andersen found himself at the back but managed to relegate Batchelor after the Swindon skipper initially threatened to get past Bees’ Stuart Robson for second place.
Robson turned his night around after missing out in his first two rides, but Joonas Kylmakorpi was scoreless after a first-ride engine failure, and the Finn and Harris were on the receiving end in Heat 11 with Howarth again proving a thorn in Bees’ side as he got the better of Harris in a major scrap for second place behind clear leader Nick Morris.
That put the Robins in front for the first time, and Bees suffered a further blow when Sarjeant broke the tapes in Heat 12 and was forced to go from the handicap. Charles Wright took the lead ahead of Garrity in the re-run, and when Sarjeant fell going into the third lap the race was awarded as a Swindon 4-2.
Andersen’s withdrawal from Heat 13 put Bees under further pressure although there was a tidy ride from Garrity alongside Harris to keep Batchelor at bay for a 3-3 - before Garrity, replacing Kylmakorpi, was involved in controversy in Heat 14.
The Bees reserve attempted an inside pass on Dakota North into bend three, with the Swindon guest going down, and the referee judged Garrity to be the cause - the debate being over whether Garrity, who had got himself in front, had taken North’s leg with his rear wheel as he completed the pass, or whether North had turned back into his path.
With Coventry left fuming, the re-run went decisively Swindon’s way with a 5-1 from North and Grzegorz Zengota wrapping up match victory - but Bees were determined to come away with something, and requiring an advantage from Heat 15 Harris and King delivered with fast starts and good team-riding to keep the rapid Morris behind them.
The result, and the point gained, leaves Bees nine points clear at the top of the table as they await further news on Andersen ahead of next Monday’s Brandon showdown with Poole.
Manager Gary Havelock said: “I’m fuming to be honest, but what can you do?
“I’m very frustrated over the decisions we’re getting and I can probably list ten or fifteen situations this season already - but Heat 15 showed once again the team spirit in the camp.
“It was basically the two riders who we had left, and they went out and got a 5-1 to get us a point. We’re still up on top of the league, which is where we want to be.â€
SWINDON 47: Nick Morris 10+1, Kyle Howarth 9+2, Dakota North 9, Grzegorz Zengota 8+2, Charles Wright 4, Lewis Rose 4, Troy Batchelor 3. BUILDBASE BEES 43: Danny King 11+1, Jason Garrity 8+3, Chris Harris 8+1, Hans Andersen 7+1, James Sarjeant 5, Stuart Robson 4, Joonas Kylmakorpi 0.
SWINDON 47 Nick Morris 2 1* 3 3 1 = 10 Kyle Howarth 1* 3 3 2* 0 = 9+2 Dakota North 3 0 3 3 = 9 Grzegorz Zengota 1* 2 3 2* = 8+2 Troy Batchelor 1 2 R 0 = 3 Charles Wright 0 1 0 3 = 4 Lewis Rose 1 2 0 1 = 4
BUILDBASE BEES 43 Hans Andersen 3 3 1* N = 7+1 Stuart Robson 0 0 2 2 = 4 Joonas Kylmakorpi R 0 0 = 0 Danny King 3 3 1* 1 3 = 11+1 Chris Harris 2 1 1 2 2* = 8+1 Jason Garrity 2* 2 1* 2 1* X = 8+3 James Sarjeant 3 0 2 X = 5+1
