BEES once again produced the goods with a weakened team to record their third Elite League win on the bounce - and move clear of relegation danger.
Only a sequence of freakishly one-sided results would drop the Buildbase Bees back into the bottom two now, and their latest success was put together with a spectacular burst of mid-meeting scoring against the Robins.
Visitors Swindon put forward the perception of racing against eight men (although quite who Coventry's seventh, let alone the eighth, was is open to debate) but it is hard to make a case for any refereeing decisions having a significant bearing on the outcome of the meeting - especially when the Robins gained twice (and majorly so on one occasion) due to mechanical problems for the Bees.
Where the visitors did suffer bad luck was with the crash which ruled Sebastian Alden out with a broken collarbone, as he would clearly have been called upon to take extra rides, and the Robins were simply not able to cover for him.
Bees put in a strong all-round showing, headlined by Chris Harris and Hans Andersen but well backed up by Olly Allen after a first-ride blank - and some notable rides from the other three team members too.
Nor should the absence of Simon Stead be forgotten, especially as his expected return meant he was programmed in the No.5 position - exactly where the Bees would not have been wanting to run the rider replacement facility as it was always going to leave them exposed in a couple of races.
The early signs pointed towards the Robins having a good chance of taking an away win, even though the first three heats were shared.
Andersen made an excellent start from gate three in Heat 1 and was initially joined at the front by Allen - only for Adams to surge through going into the second lap, and with Allen sent off line he was overhauled too by James Wright for third place.
Allen would improve dramatically in his remaining outings, but in the meantime Filip Sitera was a good winner of Heat 2 with Ben Barker - riding on despite a horror crash at Sheffield on Sunday - losing at least third place when he had a bike problem on the second lap whilst he was committed to a typically brave outside line.
Swindon may well have had a case for an all-four restart when Troy Batchelor came down on the first bend of Heat 3, the Aussie far from happy to be excluded, but the teenage sensation Jurica Pavlic limited the damage by out-gating Harris in the re-run, defending for a lap and then pulling clear for an eye-catching win.
The visitors edged in front with a 4-2 in Heat 4 thanks to a terrific start from Alden to beat Allen, with Barker just unable to catch Mads Korneliussen, and the lead was maintained with a shared Heat 5 as Harris trapped well to defeat Adams, and the Robins packed the second and third places.
But things began to go wrong for Swindon in Heat 6 when Korneliussen's helmet peak touched the tapes - clearly an excludable offence - and the green exclusion light immediately came on. Korneliussen returned to the pits, then bizarrely returned to the track whilst the two-minute time allowance was on, and it all seemed somewhat peculiar when he got to the start-line, was eventually turned around, the time allowance was cancelled and Alden belatedly appeared as a replacement!
All of this off-track action mattered little when the race finally got underway as Andersen gated, lifted somewhat on turn two but was aware of Allen's presence to cover him, and the Bees then team-rode to a 5-1 over the Swindon reserves.
The next first bend decision saw Harris trade elbows with Pavlic into turn one of Heat 7, and then found himself sandwiched as Batchelor came across, the Bees man going down and receiving an all-four verdict from referee Ronnie Allan.
The re-run was vintage Harris as he tailed Pavlic for a lap after being blocked on the back straight, but surged inside his opponent into lap two and then conclusively shut the door exiting turn two.
Sitera was already in third place before Batchelor's machine expired - but if that was bad for the Robins, it was about to get a whole lot worse when Alden clipped the back wheel of race leader Allen in Heat 8 and broke his collarbone. Third-placed Barker, who had been trying to pass Alden, missed the carnage, but Wright was on the outside line with nowhere to go and piled straight into Alden's machine.
Fortunately the British youngster was able to resume after treatment and there may well have been a case for awarding the race - but Bees made no mistake in the re-run with Allen and Barker scoring a 5-1 to put them eight points up.
It then got better and better for the Bees with Parker conjuring a magnificent start in Heat 9 whilst Harris, who made a poor one, quickly rounded both Parsons and Korneliussen on the second bend - and it was 5-1 time again in Heat 10 from Andersen and Allen, leaving Pavlic and Batchelor surprisingly adrift with Batchelor suffering more bike problems on the last bend.
The Swindon response was a tactical ride in Heat 11 and an 8-1 to boot as Adams took the flag, first team-riding with Wright to ensure they held back the challenge of Parker, and that left them nine points down and using Batchelor - scoreless at that point - for a tactical substitution in Heat 12.
Bees looked to be in the box seat early on as Barker and Harris spectacularly went either side of Pavlic on the back straight, but Barker began losing power on lap two and it was just fortunate that Harris avoided running into him going into turn three. The Bees skipper was unchallenged but Swindon took advantage to get Batchelor into second place for a fortunate 5-3 which gave them a glimmer of hope with the scoreline at 42-35.
Andersen, however, eased any nerves in the Coventry camp with a great start off gate two to clamp Adams at the start of Heat 13, and Sitera put Bees into a comfortable nine-point lead by getting the better of Korneliussen with a good move around the outside on the second lap.
That meant Bees just had to provide a finisher in the last two races, and that task was duly completed by Parker and Sitera in Heat 14 as Batchelor finally gained some consolation for a night of misfortune with a race win.
He may have added a second in Heat 15 as Harris and Andersen got somewhat crossed up on the first bend - but Harris carried great speed into turn three which took him into second place, and Batchelor fell on the outside as he tried to respond, Adams' race win being enough to deprive Andersen of a paid maximum.
So an excellent night's work for the Buildbase Bees to record what was in the end a comfortable win over a play-off chasing team, and they are still motivated to finish as high as possible in the Elite League table - with a top six place now a real possibility with some more away points in the next week.
BUILDBASE BEES 52 Hans Andersen 3 2* 3 3 1* = 12+2 Olly Allen 0 2 3 3 2* = 10+1 Chris Harris 2 3 3 3 3 2 = 16 Shane Parker 1* 0 2* 1 2 = 6+2 Simon Stead Rider Replacement Filip Sitera 3 1 0 1 1* = 6+1 Ben Barker R 0 2* 0 = 2+1
SWINDON 43 Leigh Adams 2 2 6^ 2 3 = 15 James Wright 1* 1* 1 2* = 5+3 Jurica Pavlic 3 2 1 1* = 7+1 Troy Batchelor X R 0 4# 3 F = 7 Mads Korneliussen 1 T 0 0 = 1 Joel Parsons 1* 0 1 0 = 2+1 Sebastian Alden 2 3 1 X = 6
