SWINDON sent out another strong statement of play-off intent with a 53-39 win over top-four rivals King’s Lynn at the Abbey Stadium on Thursday.

The M&S Van Rental Robins dominated proceedings against a Stars side who appeared to have been strengthened by their guest rider inclusions but failed to make a significant impact.

The visitors collected just five race wins, and the majority of those were after the match had already been decided in Swindon’s favour, with Alun Rossiter’s side hugely impressive in the first half of the meeting.

Grzegorz Zengota and Darcy Ward were both unbeaten from their first three rides with Ward thrilling the crowd as he explored every line of the Blunsdon circuit - including a tremendous chase and pass on Freddie Lindgren to team up with Troy Batchelor for a 5-1 in Heat 7.

That was the first of two successive 5-1s which doubled an early eight-point advantage to 16 and put the Stars firmly on the back foot.

The visitors’ tactical ride in Heat 9 from Kenneth Bjerre was repelled by an excellent win by Aaron Summers who showed up well on his home debut and again fully justified the Robins’ recent move into the transfer market.

Every one of the six regular Swindon riders won at least one race, with Charles Wright supplying good points at reserve and getting the better of Nicklas Porsing in Heat 8 after being just edged out by the Dane in an earlier battle.

The Robins had all-but secured victory with three heats to go, whereupon there was a delay due to floodlight failure - but power was eventually restored and although King’s Lynn provided the final three race wins, it was nowhere near enough to extinguish Swindon’s good work as they moved back into the top four.

Boss Alun Rossiter said: “That was a tremendous performance because I really felt this was going to be a very tough match with the guests that King’s Lynn had pulled in - but maybe I should have more faith in my own side!

“Having Darcy at No.1 reminds me in many ways of having Leigh Adams in the side, and it does make a big difference. He’s lifted the rest of the team, and now we just have to keep going, remain focused and make sure we’re in that top four.

“Aaron has also come in and done exactly the job we wanted. He’s got that bit of extra experience which is going to be so important at this time of the season.”

ELITE LEAGUE
SWINDON 53: Grzegorz Zengota 12+1, Darcy Ward 10+1, Aaron Summers 9+1, Charles Wright 9, Nick Morris 7+1, Troy Batchelor 6+2, Darryl Ritchings 0
KING’S LYNN 39: Niels-Kristian Iversen 9, Ashley Morris 6+3, Nicklas Porsing 6, Kenneth Bjerre 6, Dakota North 5, Freddie Lindgren 4, James Sarjeant 3
Elite League points: Swindon 3 King’s Lynn 0