SWINDON slumped to a shock 43-47 defeat at the hands of bottom club Leicester at the Abbey Stadium on Thursday.

All seemed to be going according to plan for the M&S Van Rental Robins as they raced into a 16-8 lead after four races – but they were stunned by a Lions’ comeback inspired by former Swindon star Nicolai Klindt and sensational guest reserve Brady Kurtz.

And as skipper Jason Doyle attempted to salvage victory for his side in Heat 15, the Australian slammed into the fence on turn three to end the contest in his old club’s favour.

Kurtz clearly out-scored the likely contribution of the unavailable Szymon Wozniak for the visitors, but Swindon secured three 5-1s in the first seven races and appeared to be cruising at 24-18 despite the withdrawal of Rohan Tungate with more shoulder trouble.

But three successive Leicester 5-1s turned the match upside-down completely, Kurtz being involved in the first two, and all of a sudden the Robins were facing a massive recovery job at 27-33 down.

Doyle superbly worked his way into second place to join Josh Grajczonek for a 5-1 in Heat 11 to narrow the gap to two points, but the Robins could make no further progress.

Race wins for Stefan Nielsen and Doyle in the next two races were negated by the Lions packing the minor places, and Kurtz replaced Aaron Summers to hold off Nick Morris and win Heat 14, taking the visitors into the last race ahead.

That meant nothing less than a 5-1 to Swindon would do, and one half of their equation was satisfied when Grajczonek took the lead in the decider, with Doyle chasing hard – but on the second lap, his pursuit of Kurtz and Klindt ended as he lost control on turn three and came to grief, with Klindt subsequently winning the re-run for the Lions.

Swindon boss Alun Rossiter said: “We fell apart, and some of the middle-order boys seem to be really struggling at the moment. I don’t know why that is, I can’t put my finger on it.

“Brady Kurtz was the difference, and apart from Nicolai that was about it for them - but that’s life, and you have to get on with it. Losing at home makes things a lot harder, and we have to do much better.

“Rohan pulled his shoulder again early on when he caught a rut so he’s going to be out for a couple of weeks now, but we have to dust ourselves down and get some more away points, starting at Leicester on Saturday.”

SWINDON 43: Jason Doyle 11+1, Josh Grajczonek 8+1, Nick Morris 8, Stefan Nielsen 6+2, Charles Wright 5+1, Justin Sedgmen 4+1, Rohan Tungate 1+1.
LEICESTER 47: Brady Kurtz 17+1, Nicolai Klindt 12+1, Richard Lawson 6+2, Paul Starke 4+1, Davey Watt 4, Aaron Summers 3, Josh Auty 1+1.