WHEN Swindon Robins skipper Jason Doyle could finish only third in the opening heat against the King’s Lynn Stars at the Abbey last Thursday, a long tough night seemed assured.

Some calm was immediately restored when the home reserves raced to a 5-1 win of their own before former Robin Troy Batchelor, on his Elite League debut for the Stars, led team-mate Robert Lambert home to give the visitors a surprise 11-7 lead after three races.

Nick Morris and Stefan Nielsen restored parity with a second home 5-1 in heat four before the sides traded 4-2s in the next two heats.

When Doyle and Josh Grajczonek gave the Robins a lead for the first time and they went on to win heats eight and nine, a fifth straight victory seemed assured.

But Lynn’s number one Niels-Kristian Iversen, on a tactical ride, led home popular and quietly consistent ex-Robin Mads Korneliussen for an 8-1 to leave the Stars trailing by only three (33-30).

Home team manager Alun Rossiter then opted to use unbeaten Justin Sedgmen in place of the struggling Charles Wright in heat 11; Doyle took the chequered flag first, with Sedgmen holding off Lambert for second.

In the next race Sedgmen claimed three points for a win and Swindon were nine points ahead.

A strong finish – 13 points in the remaining three races – gave Swindon a more convincing victory (55-38) than had looked likely for the majority of the evening.

This put the side back temporarily on top of the Elite League but with Wolverhampton’s victory at Leicester 48 hours later, the Robins sit just one point behind.

After his early setback, Doyle won his remaining four heats and Sedgmen top-scored with 17+1. Nick Morris was quietly impressive in dropping just the one point, although the Stars’ Lambert may beg to differ.

Morris was certainly hard (but fair) on the young teenager riding around turn two of lap one in heat 13, with the fine British prospect sitting on the shale.

Not so lucky was Rohan Tungate who after struggling in his first two races took a fall in heat 10 and was withdrawn from the meeting with soft tissue damage. He also sat out his meeting at Somerset the following evening.

On a patchy track Grajczonek could only claim four points but his 5-1 with Doyle helped set the foundation for the victory.

Boss Alun Rossiter said: “We knew they would come at us early-doors, but I always felt we would be stronger towards the end of the meeting and that’s how it turned out."

SWINDON 55: Justin Sedgmen 17+1, Jason Doyle 13, Nick Morris 12+2, Stefan Nielsen 6+2, Josh Grajczonek 4+1, Charles Wright 3+1, Rohan Tungate 0.

KING’S LYNN 38: Niels-Kristian Iversen 14, Mads Korneliussen 9+2, Lewis Rose 6, Troy Batchelor 5+1, Robert Lambert 4+1, Carl Wilkinson 0, Kai Huckenbeck 0.