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Swindon Robins put Wednesday night’s defeat at Poole behind them with a 50-39 victory over Lakeside at the Abbey Stadium, condemning the Hammers to their second defeat in as many days.
But Lakeside weren’t backing down without a fight, as Andreas Jonsson beat Darcy Ward in the opening heat, before the Swede and Edward Kennett combined to take an impressive 5-1 in heat three.
The Robins, who struggled to gate early on, went further behind when in heat six when Grzegorz Zengota suffered a chain breakage, but the hosts responded with an impressive 5-1 through Ward and Troy Batchelor to regain the Robins lead.
The meeting was all square again when in heat nine the Hammers pulled level, but Swindon again took advantage in heat eleven when Eduard Krcmar held off ex-Robin Kyle Howarth to claim third, and from there they never looked back.
After Charles Wright, who suffered a knock on Wednesday against Poole, was ruled out through injury, guest reserve Rob Branford secured a vital win in heat 12.
The meeting was beyond the Hammers grasp when another 5-1 from Ward and Batchelor in heat 13 gave the Robins a further advantage, before ending the meeting with two 4-2’s to give the hosts an eleven point win.
Robins boss Alun Rossiter said: “We are always stronger at the end, but it just goes to show you can never under-estimate anyone no matter what their position in the league.
“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.
“Full credit to Charles for making the effort because he was really stiffening up, he’d hit the fence really hard at Poole and those four points he scored were vital.”
SWINDON 50: Darcy Ward 13+1, Grzegorz Zengota 10, Troy Batchelor 9+1, Rob Branford 6, Eduard Krcmar 5+2, Charles Wright 4+1, Hans Andersen 3
LAKESIDE 39: Edward Kennett 11, Andreas Jonsson 10+2, Adam Ellis 7, Mikkel Bech 6+1, Paul Starke 3, Richard Lawson 2+1, Kim Nilsson r/r
Wednesday Results:
Belle Vue Aces 52-37 Lakeside Hammers
BELLE VUE 52: Craig Cook 10, Max Fricke 9+3, Steve Worrall 9, Matej Zagar 7+1, Scott Nicholls 6+2, Josh Grajczonek 6+1, Stefan Nielsen 5+4.
LAKESIDE 37: Mikkel Bech 12, Andreas Jonsson 11+1, Edward Kennett 6, Max Clegg 5, Richard Lawson 3, Lee Payne 0, Kim Nilsson R/R
Kings Lynn Stars A-A Leicester Lions
KING’S LYNN 35: Nicklas Porsing 7, Ashley Morris 6+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 6, Lewis Kerr 5+1, Robert Lambert 5+1, Kenneth Bjerre 4, Vaclav Milik 2+1.
LEICESTER 22: Jason Doyle 8, Grzegorz Walasek 4, Szymon Wozniak 4, Ollie Greenwood 2+1, Kevin Doolan 2, Piotr Swiderski 1, Carl Wilkinson 1.
Abandoned after 9 heats – Track waterlogged – RESULT DOES NOT STAND
Poole Pirates 54-36 Swindon Robins
POOLE 54: Chris Holder 11+1, Maciej Janowski 11+1, Davey Watt 9, Kacper Gomolski 8+1, Paul Starke 6, Kyle Newman 5+1, Dakota North 4.
SWINDON 36: Hans Andersen 9, Darcy Ward 8+2, Charles Wright 6+3, Troy Batchelor 5+1, Grzegorz Zengota 5, Eduard Krcmar 2, Darryl Ritchings 1.
