SWINDON wrapped up their home Elite League campaign with a welcome win over Peterborough in an entertaining fixture at Blunsdon.

Scott Nicholls and Simon Stead were the Robins’ heroes in the last race as they combined for a match-clinching 5-1 after the Panthers had threatened a dramatic comeback.

It was plain sailing for the home side early on as they roared into a 20-9 lead, assisted by a 5-0 in Heat 4 when Troy Batchelor crashed out, whilst debutant Mikkel B Jensen won his first ride in Swindon colours.

An 8-1 to the visitors from Linus Sundstrom and Krzysztof Buczkowski in Heat 7 slashed the gap to four points, but Robins quickly hit back and a 5-1 from Stead and Jesper B Monberg two races later put them back in control.

The Panthers gained some momentum late on, a 4-2 in Heat 12 being backed up by a race win for the returning Hans Andersen in Heat 13 and then a 5-1 in the penultimate race with Stead coming to grief – which turned out to be the only points dropped by the Swindon captain.

With the lead down to two points, the pressure was on for the final race but this time it was the Robins who hit the front with Nicholls racing clear and Stead holding back the challenge of Sundstrom to ensure the home side finished on top.

SWINDON 49: Scott Nicholls 11+1, Simon Stead 11+1, Nicolai Klindt 8+1, Jesper B Monberg 6+2, Cory Gathercole 6+2, Mikkel B Jensen 4, Grzegorz Zengota 3+1.

PETERBOROUGH 43: Linus Sundstrom 14, Michael Jepsen Jensen 9, Krzysztof Buczkowski 7+3, Hans Andersen 5+1, Dakota North 4+1, Troy Batchelor 3, Tom Armstrong 1.