ALUN ROSSITER hailed a fantastic night for not just his team but for the whole town of Swindon after the Robins claimed the SGB Premiership Supporters’ Cup courtesy of a crushing 97-83 aggregate victory over Belle Vue Aces in the final.

The Robins team manager grouped the speedway, ice hockey and football teams together, singing the praises of the trio’s recent successes, whether it be tangible or not, after the Abbey Stadium outfit swept their Manchester counterparts aside late on with a series of 5-1 heat advantages.

While it was close for the majority of the night, and the Aces took the overall lead as late as heat 11, Swindon fought back with aplomb in the closing stages to record their first senior cup success in their 70-year history.

Penhill-born Rossiter was quick to heap praise on his riders for an excellent team performance before admitting it was nice for the Town to have some success given its own residents sometimes look down on their dwelling.

Rossiter said: “It’s not just good for the team, it’s good for the town.

“It’s good to have a bit of success – the football team are having a great start to the season, we’ve got our friends from the ice hockey having a great season last year and hopefully they’ll do the same again this year.

“It’s all good for the town because people are always quick to put Swindon down, so it’s nice to have a bit of success.

“It got close in the middle, but the boys put the hammer down at the end and fair play to them.

“Four 5-1s at the end and we just went to town.

“We’ve got such a strong top five, we’ll always come strong near the end because of the pairing we send out.

“Tonight’s performance is becoming normal for us and we end up piling on the points at the end. It was fantastic.”

Given the fact that the Robins had beaten the Aces by 20 and 26 points respectively in their previous two meetings this season, many would have understood if the Robins boss had walked into the second leg with a far more serene demeanour than the one he arrived with.

Rossiter himself admitted he could not sit still all day due to nerves and those butterflies were only set free into the Indian summer air once heat 14 had reached its conclusion.

He said: “It was always in doubt for me. I’ve never been so nervous as I was before heat 12 – I’m not normally a nervous person, but tonight, I had the old butterflies for most of the meeting and before.

“Normally I’m quite calm, but maybe it’s because I haven’t been in this position for a little while.

“Hopefully that will keep me in good stead for the play-offs.”