SWINDON suffered their fifth loss on the bounce as Ronnie Russell’s side fell to a thirteen-point defeat against in-form Poole.

The Robins trailed for the majority of the contest and despite narrowing Poole’s lead to three points after heat six, Swindon were ultimately unable to overhaul Neil Middleditch’s power-packed side.

SWINDON
Leigh Adams (C) 3 6 3 2 2 - - 16
Thomas H. Jonasson R/R
Grzegorz Zengota 0 2 2 3 3 0 - 10
Mads Korneliussen 1 0 0 1 - - - 2
Simon Stead 3 1 3 1* - - - 8 (1)
Morten Risager 0 0 0 0 - - - 0
Cory Gathercole 1 R 2* 0 1 R - 4 (1)
Justin Sedgmen (No. 8) 0 - - - - - - 0
Team manager: Ronnie Russell

POOLE
Chris Holder 2 3 2 0 3 - - 10
Darcy Ward 1* 2* 1 3 1* 1 - 9 (3)
Bjarne Pedersen 3 3 2 2 3 - - 13
Artur Mroczka R/R
Davey Watt (C) 2 1 2 3 - - - 8
Ty Proctor 2* 0 M 1* - - 3 (2)
Jason Doyle 3 1* 2* 1 1* F 2* 10 (4)
Team manager: Neil Middleditch
Referee: Peter Clarke

Ht 1: Adams, Holder, Ward, Risager, 65.09 (3-3)
Ht 2: Doyle, Proctor, Gathercole, Risager, 67.33 (4-8)
Ht 3: Pedersen, Ward, Korneliussen, Zengota, 65.99 (5-13)
Ht 4: Stead, Watt, Doyle, Gathercole (ret), 66.09 (8-16)
Ht 5: Holder, Zengota, Ward, Korneliussen, 66.59 (10-20)
Ht 6: Adams (TR), Gathercole, Watt, Proctor, 66.71 (18-21)
Ht 7: Pedersen, Doyle, Stead, Risager, 67.15 (19-26)
Ht 8: (Re-Run) Ward, Zengota, Doyle, Gathercole, 66.93 (21-30)
Ht 9: Zengota, Watt, Doyle, Korneliussen, Proctor (ex, 2 mins), 66.12 (24-33)
Ht 10: Adams, Pedersen, Proctor, Sedgmen, 66.40 (27-36)
Ht 11: (Re-Run) Stead, Holder, Ward, Risager, 66.65 (30-39)
Ht 12: Zengota, Pedersen, Gathercole, Doyle (fell), 66.77 (34-41)
Ht 13: Watt, Adams, Stead, Holder, 66.55 (37-44)
Ht 14: Pedersen, Doyle, Korneliussen, Gathercole (ret), 67.55 (38-49)
Ht 15: (Nominated) Holder (y), Adams (r), Ward (w), Zengota (b), 67.02 (40-53)

Programme changes:
Ht 1: R/R Risager; Ht 3: R/R Ward; Ht 6: TR Adams (Double points); R/R Gathercole; Ht 7: R/R Doyle; Ht 8: R/R Zengota; Ht 9: Doyle replaced Proctor; Ht 10: R/R Sedgmen; R/R Proctor; Ht 12: Doyle replaced Proctor; Ht 14: Gathercole replaced Risager; R/R Pedersen.

NOTE: Under the league scoring system, Swindon gained 0 points and Poole received 4.

Swindon operated the rider replacement facility for the injured Thomas H. Jonasson, whilst Poole utilized the same system for their absent second-string Artur Mroczka.

The Pirates also drafted in Tyron Proctor as a guest replacement for the injured Leon Madsen.

The Robins’ score-chart was topped by a sixteen-point contribution from Leigh Adams, whilst Polish thrill merchant Grzegorz Zengota continued his solid recent form by amassing a ten-point return.

Elsewhere, Simon Stead registered paid-nine but popular Dane Mads Korneliussen could only card a two-point return from his four ride schedule.

As always, popular Australian youngster Cory Gathercole was in the thick of the action throughout. The Milduran born racer mustered a paid-five score, which included a scintillating pass of Poole captain Davey Watt in a crackerjack race six.

Meanwhile, It was another difficult night for Morten Risager who failed to score from his four outings.

Poole were well served by their Danish International Bjarne Pedersen who topped their scoring. Elsewhere it was the Pirates’ all-round firepower that prevailed – most notably a paid thirteen point return from Australian youngster Jason Doyle.

Poole moved ahead in the meeting with successive 5-1 heat advantages in races two and three. A points share in the fourth was quickly followed by a Pirates’ 4-2 in the ensuing race as the Dorset side shuffled their lead to ten.

A well worked Swindon 8-1 from Leigh Adams and Cory Gathercole in the sixth slashed Poole’s lead to three points, but two successive heat advantages for Neil Middleditch’s team quickly followed.

The Pirates maintained a comfortable cushion in the final third of the meeting and concluded the evening in style by registering heat advantages in the concluding two races.