Premiership knock-out cup quarter-final first leg

Swindon 59 Rye House 31

A 59-31 first-leg knock-out cup win over a disappointing Rye House side surely will have all but ensured that Swindon Robins are through to the semi finals, with the second leg due to have been raced in Hertfordshire on Wednesday night.

It’s taken some time but at last the Robins’ top five all came to the party at the same time with skipper Nick Morris being the lowest scorer with nine points – but even they were all heat wins!

It was left to David Bellego and Troy Batchelor to top the scorechart with paid maximums whilst Tobiasz Musielak only dropped one point to fellow countryman Krzysztof Kasprzak.

Adam Ellis struggled a bit but still managed paid 11 helped by his inclusion in a twice rerun heat 15 along with Morris. The later came to grief when going for a gap between Scott Nicholls and Chris Harris that quickly disappeared and the Australian was lucky to avoid injury.

At reserve it was good to see Jack smith take three good third places which will have done wonders for his confidence.

Meanwhile Zach Wajtknecht, recently given the cash by a benefactor to purchase two new engines, had another strong night and whilst the opposition was modest, hopefully 2018 will be a fortress Blunsdon season.

The Robins are back at Blunsdon on Bank Holiday Monday with a 7.30 start.

World champion Jason Doyle returns to the Abbey Stadium shale for the first time since taking the title last October. Then on Thursday, Belle Vue return and whilst beaten at home at the beginning of the week, the Aces should be a tough test.

Meanwhile Mitchell Davey, so seriously injured racing for his National League side Birmingham, is still in hospital and faces a very long battle ahead to regain his health.

Included in his injuries are an almost unheard of 12 broken ribs.

However as it always does so the speedway world looks after its own and a staggering £15,000 has been collected including some £8,000 from Birmingham and Swindon commercial manager Lee Kilby’s 74 mile sponsored 20 hour walk from Birmingham to Swindon.

Scorers. Swindon 59: David Bellego 11+1, Tobiasz Musielak 11, Troy Batchelor 10+2, Adam Ellis 9+2, Nick Morris 9, Zach Wajtknecht 6+2, Jack Smith 3+1.

Rye House 31: Krzysztof Kasprzak 8, Scott Nicholls 8, Chris Harris 5+1, Aaron Summers 4+1, Emil Grondal 2+1, Edward Kennett 2, Max Clegg 2.

Premiership meeting. Thursday night.

In the end, Swindon’s 51-39 win over Wolverhampton was quite comfortable but it was not always so.

Opening with three successive 4-2 it looked as if a big win was on the cards but three drawn heats followed and then in race eight Adam Ellis broke the tapes Zach Wajtknecht replaced him as the visitors took a 4-2 and reduced the deficit to four. Swindon replied with two 4-2’s of their own.

Three races later and eight points down, Wolves put Rory Schlein in on a tactical ride.

Swindon replied with their first maximum heat win of the night as Troy Batchelor took the victory followed by Wajtknecht who added Schlein to his increasingly long list of notable conquests.

A shared heat 13 finally confirmed the home win.

Swindon were not entirely convincing and whilst the number seven position continues to be a problem, when the top five all perform consistently some opponents are going to suffer!

This evening it was good to see Batchelor take four wins but even he had a had a heat five zero. Ellis could only card three thirds but his form this season has perhaps generally exceeded all expectations.

Scorers. Swindon 51: Troy Batchelor 12, Nick Morris 10+1, Zach Wajtknecht 9+3, Tobiasz Musielak 9, David Bellego 7, Adam Ellis 3+1, Jack Smith 1.

Wolverhampton 39: Rory Schlein 13, Jacob Thorssell 9+1, Sam Masters 7, Ashley Morris 5+1, Kyle Howarth 3, Nathan Greaves 2, Cameron Heeps 0.