SWINDON suffered last-heat heartbreak in a 44-46 defeat to Poole in an Abbey Stadium thriller on Bank Holiday Monday.

A packed house saw the meeting swing between both teams and go right to the wire before Chris Holder secured victory for the Pirates in Heat 15.

The M&S Van Rental Robins got off to a slow start and trailed 5-13 after three races – but they hit back in style.

Three successive 5-1s stunned the Pirates in Heats 5, 6 and 7 including a terrific effort by Rohan Tungate to see off Holder in the second of those maximums.

But the match began to turn back the visitors’ way when Morris was penalised for tape-touching in Heat 8, and the re-run saw him clatter into a locked-up Charles Wright as he tried to come from the handicap.

Skipper Jason Doyle was another Robins rider to fall foul of the referee as he got out of shape on the second lap of Heat 11, causing Krzysztof Buczkowski to fall.

Doyle was disqualified and Poole skipper Hans Andersen won the re-run, the referee electing to punish his repeated movement at the start with a fine rather than disqualification.

Trailing by six points, the Robins set up a grandstand finale when Doyle and Justin Sedgmen got the better of Holder and Andersen in Heat 13, and whilst Morris pulled off a superb first bend move in Heat 14, Tungate was edged out by Buczkowski in the battle for third place.

Needing a 4-2 from Heat 15 to draw, or a 5-1 to win, Swindon’s hopes were effectively dashed when Holder and Andersen gated in the decider, and although Morris and Doyle both forced their way past Andersen they were unable to get to GP leader Holder.

Boss Alun Rossiter said: “We knew it was going to be close, I thought it would be two points either way, and unfortunately it went Poole’s way.

“I’ve had a team talk with the boys and pointed out that that’s Poole’s first away win, we’ve already got ten points on the road, so we need to keep our heads up.

“We had a few misfortunes which cost us, and really those points were vital to the end result, but there’s no lack of character. We just have to park it, forget it and move on.”

Robins get a quick chance for revenge when they visit Poole on Wednesday, before hosting Leicester back at the Abbey on Thursday.

SWINDON 44: Nick Morris 10, Jason Doyle 8+2, Josh Grajczonek 7+2, Justin Sedgmen 7+1, Stefan Nielsen 7, Charles Wright 3+1, Rohan Tungate 2+1.
POOLE 46: Chris Holder 11, Brady Kurtz 10+2, Kyle Newman 7+1, Krzysztof Buczkowski 7, Bjarne Pedersen 5+1, Hans Andersen 5+1, Adam Ellis 1.