IF there has been one result which has eluded the Buildbase Bees in recent years, despite all of their trophy success, it has been a win at Swindon - and this meeting never looked like providing an end to that record.
For whatever reason, Bees' heaviest away defeats have generally been reserved for Blunsdon over recent years, and on this occasion they came up against a strong Robins team who appeared perfectly dialled-in to their home circuit.
Of course, one result does not make or break a season, especially after the Bees have had an impressive start, but they will hopefully have learnt lessons from this outcome so that their next visit on June 25 turns out to be slightly more pleasurable!
It was already an uphill battle prior to Heat 3, but it became far more than that when Olly Allen tangled with Jurica Pavlic when trying to move through on the inside at the start of the second lap.
Both riders fell heavily but whilst Pavlic was straight back up, Allen had high-sided over on his shoulder which was dislocated but then put back in at the track. However, his participation was over for the night, and that gave the Bees a major gap in their middle order.
Especially as they were contending with two riders with a combined average of 7.70 who scored a total of 21 (paid 24) between them - Jurica Pavlic again showing what an assessed average can do for a team's prospects, and Bees asset Ryan Fisher showing every indication of returning to and even exceeding the form which made him such a bright talent when he first came to Brandon in 2002.
There have been a long list of Heat 1 5-1 concessions for the Bees at this venue, and this meeting could well have joined that list but for Ben Barker using the inside line to pass Travis McGowan on the third lap with skipper Chris Harris appearing to be down on power.
But Bees quickly found themselves six points down after Fisher took control of Heat 2 and Jordan Frampton spun and fell on turn two when he appeared to have the better of Krzysztof Stojanowski. Frampton cleared the track and Ricky Wells subsequently reeled in the Pole, but was unable to find a way through on his first ride at the venue.
The Heat 3 clash between Pavlic and Allen came with the Robins holding a 5-1 situation, but Bees did take an extra point in a close-fought re-run as Pavlic held off the threat of Edward Kennett, who himself had to be wise to the attempts of Simon Stead to complete a home maximum.
The run of Swindon advantages finally came to an end in Heat 4, but once again it was a home winner with Fisher flying out of the start as Troy Batchelor appeared sluggish and eventually came to a stop when at the back midway through the race.
Two Robins' 4-2s followed as the home side quickly extended their lead, Pavlic repelling Harris for a lap and a half in Heat 5 before pulling clear, and Leigh Adams clamping Rory Schlein in the next before then holding off a strong challenge from his countryman around the third and fourth bends.
All of which meant it was no real surprise to see Kennett taking the black-and-white helmet in Heat 7, and it was the right time to see a Bees rider for the first time making it into the first bend in front, Kennett getting across well from gate four to defeat Batchelor and taking the full six points.
But the gain from that race was more than wiped out in the next with McGowan and Fisher going clear from the start, and although Barker challenged McGowan he made a couple of mistakes and eventually fell on the third lap, the Swindon lead therefore going up to 13 points.
And the home side could have been out of sight with six races to go had they brought home another 5-1 in Heat 9 which looked entirely likely as Pavlic and Stead team-rode their way around ahead of Rory Schlein.
However, they didn't quite cover the inside on the last lap and Schlein took advantage to trap Pavlic on the back straight, continuing his move to go inside Stead too into the final bend. There was probably an element of surprise as well, and Stead hit the fence on the fourth turn as he tried to respond, with the likely Swindon 5-1 therefore becoming a Coventry 4-2 - which turned out to be the Bees' only 'genuine' advantage of the night.
Adams and McGowan quickly allayed any thoughts of a major Bees comeback as they extended the Robins' lead to 15 points with a routine 5-1 in Heat 10, although the visitors were slightly unlucky in the next when, with Harris on a tactical ride, Batchelor jumped at the start and the race was stopped as Harris and Barker made good gates, giving the second opportunity to the rider who had moved.
And as Swindon know only too well from what happened to Batchelor himself at Poole last week, the re-run saw the young Australian get everything right and surge away in the fastest time of the night - Barker at least giving Bees a 5-3 with a spirited chase and pass of Stojanowski off the final bend.
Gating was becoming ever more important, and Frampton underlined that when he made the first bend in front in Heat 12 and rode the perfect race to hold back Stead and Fisher, for Fisher's first defeat of the night.
But it was back to the 5-1s as far as Swindon were concerned when Adams and Batchelor got out together in Heat 13, Batchelor quickly went around his skipper and it was game over from there.
The race of the night followed in Heat 14, which for three and a half laps looked like producing a Bees 5-1 as Kennett and Frampton team-rode against a thrusting Pavlic. Just when every angle appeared blocked, Pavlic decided that rather than riding around or inside the Coventry riders, he would go between them, and he achieved it into turn three in a move which had top-class stamped all over it - and with the match points long-since having been won, it was a race which could be appreciated by everyone in the stadium.
After that excitement, Heat 15 was a much more routine affair with neither Pavlic nor Adams involved for the home team - but Schlein deserved a double-figure score for his efforts, and he gained race victory with a fast start was the heat was shared.
Another night at Swindon, another defeat... but the Bees have shown over the years that seasons are not wrecked by these results, and they will bounce back from it.