THREE victories in four meetings last week has really put the Swindon Robins back in the play-off mix.

The sequence saw the Robins consolidate their fourth place position, moving five points clear of main rivals Belle Vue as well as closing the gap on third-placed King’s Lynn to just three points.

Suddenly the Robins look slight favourites ahead of Belle Vue to take the final qualifying play-off place but with no fixture until August 10 (Wolverhampton away), Swindon fans will be taking particular note of Belle Vue's clash with Poole tonight (Monday).

The come-from-behind heroics which resulted in the 51-39 win at Wolverhampton last Monday were largely forgotten two days later when the side were given a 54-36 drubbing by the champions Poole.

The start was delayed to allow the large crowd to be admitted with the terraces already buzzing with expectation as the Pirates welcomed back their prodigal son Darcy Ward, albeit racing for Swindon.

The Robins had only three heat wins – through Troy Batchelor in heat six and guest Hans Andersen in the final two races; Ward was surprisingly winless.

The next night Lakeside visited the Abbey and with Andersen in again for the injured Nick Morris, the Hammers were not expected to mount a serious challenge.

However, the scores see-sawed and at least a couple of the home riders were unhappy with track preparation; for once guest Hans Andersen proved disappointing.

Heat 11 saw Ward overcome Ed Kennett but it was the struggling Eduard Krcmar’s key third place over Lakeside guest and recently disposed Robin Kyle Howarth that put the Robins 34-32 up.

Reserve Charles Wright had already withdrawn from the meeting with the recurrence of a recent injury and it was left to Rob Branford, making his racing debut at the Abbey, to ride solo in race 12, coming up with a crucial race win after the points were awarded following the fall of Paul Starke.

With Lewis Rose out for some time the club would do well to think about Edinburgh rider Branford as a temporary replacement.

From then on it was plain sailing as Ward and Batchelor had an easy 5-1 in race 13 before Greg Zengota took his third race win in heat 14. Ward and Zengota rounded the meeting off with a 4-2 over Andreas Jonsson and Kennett to give the Robins a 50-39 win.

Manager Rossiter said: “I think the turning point was probably Robert Branford’s win in Heat 12, but fair play to Lakeside, and I think they’ll be disappointed they didn’t get anything out of the meeting. In fairness, they probably deserved something.”

Friday saw the Robins head to Purfleet for the return against Lakeside. Once again Swindon staged another dramatic comeback to pick up four more Elite League points after racing to a 50-43 win.

With just three of their own riders, a patched-up Robins side trailed by 12 points after five races.

But back-to-back maximum heat advantages started another stunning revival.

Rosco nominated Ward for double-points in heat six and the move was timed to perfection. Skipper Batchelor led for the majority of the race before allowing Ward past on the run to the line to ensure a vital 8-1.

In the very next race, Ward took care of the previously unbeaten Lakeside captain Jonsson to shepherd Zengota home for a 5-1 to reduce the Robins' deficit to just a single point.

Five tense shared heats followed before another Ward/ Batchelor 1-2 in heat 13 gave the Blunsdon outfit the lead for the first time on the night.

Zengota and Batchelor tucked in behind Lakeside's Richard Lawson in heat 14 to take it down to a last-heat decider with the Robins three points in front.

The Robins spearhead of Batchelor and Ward combined for yet another maximum heat advantage to win by seven on the night which ensured they collected maximum available points on their travels for the second time in the week.

A delighted Rossiter said: “Another great win when you consider the situation we found ourselves in early on.

“Darcy and Troy were outstanding all night and I have to give special praise to Zengi once again. Everyone knows he struggles with these smaller, technical tracks but he’s carried on his recent, excellent form by scoring 16 at Wolverhampton on Monday and scoring nine here tonight – eight of which were from his last three rides!

“The momentum we got from heats six and seven were huge and I was always confident that we’d come strong late on in the meeting once again."