SWINDON Robins were badly beaten in two away matches across three days to see their dream of making the play-offs end in disappointment, writes Phil Rice.

The result will undoubtedly signal major changes over the winter.

Needing to lose one of those two matches by six points or less to claim the necessary match point, the side got off to a perfect start on Wednesday with a 5-1 win in race one at table toppers Belle Vue.

But that was as good as it got with the Aces racing to a 52-40 success.

Rohan Tungate was the pick for Swindon with an excellent 15 points, but the meeting was decided at reserve where the Aces outscored the Robins 15-5.

The weather changed for the worse on Friday as Swindon headed to Lakeside for the all-or-nothing finale.

In truth, the Robins were very disappointing as they went down 58-35 on an admittedly tricky surface.

The meet did serve up some excellent racing, mostly with the Hammers coming through the field to bag points. Jason Doyle with three heat wins and Charles Wright with two did what they could but the rest just did not turn up.

“It was a massive disappointment and we were not good enough,” said boss Alun Rossiter.

“We were lacking in support at second string and heat leader to back up Doyley all year and our reserves struggled towards the end of the season.

“One rider would have a good meeting, another would have a poor one and it would swap around from week to week. We didn’t click all at once and if we had, we would have battered teams.

“It is all very raw at the moment but we are already starting to work on building a team around Doyley for next season. He will have a say and we will get our heads together to see what we can bring to Swindon.”

Doyle’s high average certainly restricts the choices in the rest of the team. The all-Australian and at-times-too-comfortable top five has not worked and needs to be broken up.

Perhaps Rohan Tungate may stay but he is basically a gater; for his own good Nick Morris should move on.

Rossiter is not immune from criticism either. He must reflect on his own tactical mistakes and needs to adapt his style in order to get the best out of the side in the post-Abbey era next year.