SWINDON edged a Speedway thriller 50-42 against reigning champions Poole in front of a bumper Abbey Stadium crowd.

And they kept their play-off push alive on a night of thrilling racing and a stunning display from Rohan Tungate who notched 13 alongside skipper Jason Doyle.

Jubilant boss Alun Rossiter said: “I’m really pleased with the result and the performance of all the boys, we knew it was a big meeting and we had to do the business.

“Rohan was brilliant, he said the track was his friend rather than the enemy in this meeting, and his score showed it.

“Poole are such a good side they keep coming back at you and you can never relax against them, that’s why they are a top team.

“It’s a good night for us because we’ve now added seven-points to our league total from King’s Lynn on Thursday and now this, so we are in with a good chance of a play-off place and I know the boys are up for the challenge.”

It could have been even better for the M&S Van Rental Robins who were sat on a 5-1 in the opener with Doyle and Justin Sedgmen looking good – only for Sedgmen to shed a primary chain and hand the visitors a 3-3.

Swindon slowly but surely built up a handy lead – but they had a late scare with a Pirates revival.

Nick Morris and Tungate combined in Heat 14 to see Swindon home after Krzysztof Buckowski was excluded.

And they denied the visitors a consolation point in the last race to send the majority of the crowd home happy.

There was some stunning racing, particularly featuring Doyle and former world champion Chris Holder – but this was a solid team display by the Blunsdon boys.

Swindon head to Wolverhampton next Monday, August 29, for a double-header which also features King’s Lynn.

The next home meeting is on Thursday September 1 against Leicester.

ELITE LEAGUE TOP 5: Belle Vue 49, Poole 44, Swindon 44, Wolverhampton 42, Lakeside 40.

SWINDON 50: Jason Doyle 13, Rohan Tungate 13, Josh Grajczonek 7+2, Nick Morris 7+2, Charles Wright 6+1, Justin Sedgmen 3+1, Stefan Nielsen 1.
POOLE 42: Hans Andersen 9, Chris Holder 8+2, Bjarne Pedersen 7+1, Brady Kurtz 6, Adam Ellis 5+2, Kyle Newman 4, Krzysztof Buczkowski 3+1.