Swindon Robins v Poole Pirates

The Jolly Roger was well and truly lowered as Swindon showed their class to bolster their play- off aspirations. 

Whilst Poole kept the early exchanges close, due mainly to some fast trapping from Brady Kurtz, they rapidly slipped out of contention over a three heat spell between eight and ten that yielded just four points, Josh Gracjzonek collecting two of those when persistence paid off as he snatched second place on the line to split  Adam Ellis and Claus Vissing in heat eight. They were handicapped literally in heat nine when Brady Kurtz's tape infringement cost him a 15 metre penalty in the re-run and suffered the first of two back-to-back  5-1 reversals.

Trailing by sixteen after 10 heats the Pirates did stage a short- lived mini- recovery with consecutive 4-2 scores that offered up a glimmer of hope.  It should have been more, but Jack Holder twice lost position to Troy Batchelor in heat 11, when on a potential 5-1 with Kurtz who had been deployed as a tactical substitute to cover the last rider replacement ride,  the scheme again in operation due to the prolonged absence of Richie Worrall.

Nico Covatti masterminded the back- up 4-2 in heat 12 but hopes of the Pirates being able to take the meeting down to the wire were extinguished in heat 13 when Jason Doyle and Troy Batchelor banked a 4-2 to get the Robin's over the line for the meeting victory.

When Covatti failed to add anything to Gracjzonek's fine race win in heat 14 a barren night for the Pirates was confirmed but Gracjzonek was still hungry for points in heat 15 and his battle with Rasmus Jensen was box- office racing but had to settle for second place.

Whilst the point-less trip will not have adversely affected the Pirates' chances of retaining a top four place, they will be keen to try and pick up something from their next two matches, both on the road, starting at Wolverhampton on Monday before heading to second-placed Ipswich next Thursday

SWINDON 53
Jason Doyle,3,2,3,3=11 (4)
Adam Ellis,2',1',3,2'=8+3 (4)
Rasmus Jensen,3,3,2',2,3=13+1 (5)
Tobiasz Musielak,0,2',3,2=7+1 (4)
Troy Batchelor,2,3,2,1,1=9 (5)
Ellis Perks,3,FD,0,1'=4+1 (4)
Claus Vissing,0,0,1,0=1 (4)

POOLE 37
Jack Holder,0,1,1,0=2 (4)
Rider Replacement
Nicolai Klindt,1',2,1,1=5+1 (4)
Josh Grajczonek,2,1',2,0,3,2=10+1 (6)
Brady Kurtz,3,3,1,3,2,0=12 (6)
Nico Covatti,1,1',0,0,3,0=5+1 (6)
Ricky Wells,2,1,0,0=3 (4)

Ht 1: Jason Doyle, Adam Ellis, Nico Covatti, Jack Holder 5-1 5-1 [62.23]
Ht 2: Ellis Perks, Ricky Wells, Nico Covatti, Claus Vissing 3-3 8-4 [61.55]
Ht 3: Rasmus Jensen, Josh Grajczonek, Nicolai Klindt, Tobiasz Musielak 3-3 11-7 [61.42]
Ht 4: Brady Kurtz, Troy Batchelor, Ricky Wells, Claus Vissing 2-4 13-11 [60.83]
Ht 5: Rasmus Jensen, Tobiasz Musielak, Jack Holder, Ricky Wells  [rtd] 5-1 18-12 [61.95]
Ht 6: Brady Kurtz, Jason Doyle, Adam Ellis, Nico Covatti 3-3 21-15 [61.3]
Ht 7: Troy Batchelor, Nicolai Klindt, Josh Grajczonek, Ellis Perks  [fell DQ] 3-3 24-18 [awd]
Ht 8: Adam Ellis, Josh Grajczonek, Claus Vissing, Ricky Wells 4-2 28-20 [62.49]
Ht 9: Tobiasz Musielak, Rasmus Jensen, Brady Kurtz, Nico Covatti  [Kurtz  15m hc] 5-1 33-21 [62.74]
Ht 10: Jason Doyle, Adam Ellis, Nicolai Klindt, Josh Grajczonek 5-1 38-22 [62.39]
Ht 11: Brady Kurtz, Troy Batchelor, Jack Holder, Ellis Perks 2-4 40-26 [62.83]
Ht 12: Nico Covatti, Rasmus Jensen, Nicolai Klindt, Claus Vissing 2-4 42-30 [62.77]
Ht 13: Jason Doyle, Brady Kurtz, Troy Batchelor, Jack Holder 4-2 46-32 [62.46]
Ht 14: Josh Grajczonek, Tobiasz Musielak, Ellis Perks, Nico Covatti 3-3 49-35 [62.89]
Ht 15: Rasmus Jensen, Josh Grajczonek, Troy Batchelor, Brady Kurtz 4-2 53-37 [63.27]

REFEREE Mr Ronnie Allan

GATES SWINDON won toss and deferred choice to heat 15; POOLE chose gates 1&3 |SWINDON choses gates 1&3 in heat 15

League Points: SWINDON 3 POOLE 0