SWINDON recorded their third win out of three over the Buildbase Bees this season - but Coventry were far from disgraced at Blunsdon as they improved on their April result.
The Robins had scored 62 points at home on their previous outing, but there was never a chance of Bees being blown away to that extent, although the dominance of the Swindon heat-leaders meant that their side's win was never in danger - and it could have been by a wider margin, which would have been unfortunate for Bees, but for a dramatic late rally.
Whilst Leigh Adams, Leigh Richardson and Sebastian Ulamek were all in fast-gating form Coventry worked hard throughout to take points off the Robins' lower order, and although gating was of huge importance there were still a number of good races.
Scott Nicholls made a flying start from the outside in Heat 1 - too good for referee Mick Posselwhite, who called all four back for a re-run which was immediately headed by Adams. Nicholls tucked in for second place and Billy Janniro, no lover of Blunsdon, held on to third ahead of Mads Korneliussen.
The second race was also shared with Tomasz Chrzanowski setting himself up for another double-figure night, but Olly Allen and Martin Smolinski got the better of Andrew Moore - however, the parity was not maintained for long as Ulamek and Charlie Gjedde leapt out of the start in Heat 3 and there was no way through for the chasing Rory Schlein.
Heat 4 was one of the best of the night with Chris Harris missing the gate from the outside, before driving inside Chrzanowski at the end of the first lap. His momentum, though, took him too wide and the Pole repaid the compliment before Harris switched his attentions to the outside and surged back into second place at the half-way stage. He then rapidly reeled in Richardson, but the race ended just before he could make a challenge.
Ulamek got the better of a competitive start to Heat 5 with Gjedde snatching third from Janniro at the end of the first lap for a Robins 4-2, which opened their lead to eight points. But Bees were able to keep it at that level as the impressive Smolinski defended resolutely for third place over Korneliussen in Heat 6, and Schlein and Morten Risager then split the points in seven ahead of Andrew Moore after Richardson had come through to the front on turn two.
Heat 8 saw the Robins edge a further two points clear, with Allen going into the tapes on the inside - an incident which seemed to provoke a disproportionate amount of hilarity on the terraces - but Smolinski came in as a replacement and did a fine job. Chrzanowski raced away to win easily, but the battle for second was fought out over all four laps with Smolinski and Korneliussen re-passing throughout the race. Finally, Korneliussen went wide on turn two of the final lap and that allowed Smolinski to make the decisive passing move.
Bees were still waiting for a heat winner, but they did more than that in Heat 9 with Smolinski and Harris going clear for a welcome, if unexpected, 5-1 over Ulamek and Gjedde in Heat 9 - the outcome clearly being unexpected to the home duo too given their body language towards each other on the last lap and immediately after the race!
Swindon restored an eight-point lead with a 4-2 in Heat 10, although Schlein chased Adams all the way, and Heat 11 was shared with Nicholls - who looked fast but was not making starts - right behind Richardson throughout and Janniro holding on for third.
Disaster struck for Bees in Heat 12 when Schlein had the race in the bag going into the last lap, only for him to suffer a puncture and have to park on the back straight. Ulamek and Chrzanowski shot through for a fortunate 5-1, and suddenly Bees were looking at the prospect of a heavier defeat than had looked likely.
That certainly seemed to be the case after Heat 13 when the deployment of Nicholls as a tactical ride failed to have the desired effect - he was beaten to the first bend by Adams and as he was closed down, Richardson blasted around the outside to join his captain. From then on, the team-riding of Adams was perfect and Nicholls was unable to double his points.
The last throw of the dice from boss Colin Pratt was to insert Harris into Heat 14 as a tactical substitute - but it was still going to be a tough ask to pass Gjedde and Chrzanowski. However, matters improved dramatically when Allen made a brilliant start to hold back the Robins in the early stages, and as Harris gained ground rapidly there was a further boost when Gjedde was removed from the equation with mechanical trouble. Harris then went firmly inside Chrzanowski on the second lap, and with Allen alongside him for the rest of the race Bees had taken a most well-worked 8-1 to slash the gap to nine points.
Harris was unable to make an impression in the last race, but fortunately for Bees Nicholls did manage to get out of the start in front and proved just what might have been with his speed as he clocked the second fastest time of the night, conclusively heading Adams and Richardson who both lost their maximums as a result.
Swindon 51 Coventry 42 (Elite League B)
SWINDON 51 Leigh Adams 3 3 3 2* 1* = 12+2 Mads Korneliussen 0 0 1 1 = 2 Sebastian Ulamek 3 3 0 3 = 9 Charlie Gjedde 2* 1 1 R = 4+1 Lee Richardson 3 3 3 3 2 = 14 Andrew Moore 0 0 0 = 0 Tomasz Chrzanowski 3 1 3 2* 1 = 10+1
BUILDBASE BEES 42 Scott Nicholls 2 2 2 1 3 = 10 Billy Janniro 1* 0 0 1* = 2+2 Rory Schlein 1 2 2 R = 5 Morten Risager 0 1* 0 = 1+1 Chris Harris 2 2 2* 0 6 0 = 12+1 Martin Smolinski 1* 1* 2 3 1 = 8+2 Olly Allen 2 0 T 2* = 4+1