Swindon 44 Poole 52 

Another loss for the Robins

 
On a night of typically entertaining Blunsdon action, Ronnie Russell’s Robins were outgunned by a Poole side that continues to take the 2010 Sky Sports Elite league by storm.

 

The Dorset septet gained the ascendancy in the opening race and retained the lead from that point forward. Indeed, Neil Middleditch’s side displayed superior strength in depth and Swindon were simply unable to compete with the Pirates’ incredible fire-power.

 

 
A paid-fourteen point haul from the in-form Simon Stead headed Swindon’s score-chart. The popular British International showed scintillating speed from the outset and dropped just a solitary point to Poole’s Australian youngster Chris Holder in heat eleven.

Stead scrapped tenaciously for his eye-catching haul and conjured an array of passing manoeuvres. His tenacious performance was certainly well received by the Robins’ faithful and the Brit deservedly scooped the Swindon Man of the Match Award.

Elsewhere, Robins’ skipper Leigh Adams amassed a fourteen point total which included a tactical ride victory in his second outing. Like Stead, Adams was in the thick of the action from the outset and the Australian found himself embroiled in numerous battles with opposition riders.

Meanwhile, riding at the No.4 berth, Grzegorz Zengota recovered from pointless returns in his opening two rides to eventually notch a nine-point score. The Polish youngster romped to a tactical ride victory in the penultimate race and showed good speed towards the conclusion of the meeting.

 

However, support was thin on the ground for Stead, Adams and Zengota with the remaining four Swindon riders only able to muster a disappointing combined score of eight.

 

Poole were well served by their all action reserve rider Artur Mroczka. The Polish rider amassed a paid thirteen point haul from the No.7 slot and was integral to the Pirates’ eventual success. Australian Grand Prix rider Chris Holder secured a paid twelve point return whilst Bjarne Pedersen carded a well acquired score of eleven.

 

Poole registered a heat advantage in the opening encounter as the youthful Australian duo of Chris Holder and Darcy Ward combined to gain a 4-2. Leigh Adams recovered from an uncharacteristically slow start to forge a route into second spot but was unable to overhaul Holder who set a blistering pace out front.

 

The Pirates second successive 4-2 in race two shuffled the Dorset side into a four-point lead. Robins’ talented Milduran Justin Sedgmen was able to split the Poole pairing whilst Jordan Frampton fell on bend one of lap two whilst chasing Pirates’ guest Craig Watson.

 

Poole moved further ahead with a heat three 5-1, before a terrific race win from Simon Stead in the fourth secured the first points share of the evening.

 

The Pirates pushed on with their second 5-1 in heat five as Darcy Ward and Chris Holder inflicted defeat on Mads Korneliussen and Grzegorz Zengota.

 

A tactical ride victory from Leigh Adams in heat six secured Swindon a 7-2 advantage as Swindon reduced Poole’s lead to a seven point margin.

  

A Robins 4-2 from Simon Stead and Justin Sedgmen in heat seven narrowed the level of deficit to five points as Swindon propelled themselves back into contention.

 

 

However, Poole once again turned on the style with a heat eight 5-1 to move back into a nine point lead. The Robins then appeared to be heading for a heat nine race advantage until Mads Korneliussen fell on the final lap whilst tussling with Pirates’ skipper Davey Watt.

 

The resultant points share maintained Poole’s lead, which Neil Middleditch’s side added to three consecutive race advantages in heats ten, eleven and twelve.

 

Leigh Adams and Simon Stead combined in emphatic style to notch a comfortable 5-1 in heat thirteen. Grzegorz Zengota maximised his tactial ride opportunity in race fourteen with a tapes-to-flag victory as Swindon collected a 6-3 advantage.

 

A crackerjack heat fifteen ensued as Leigh Adams used his extensive Blunsdon track craft to forge a route past Poole’s Artur Mroczka. Meanwhile, out front Simon Stead romped to another super impressive victory and successfully repelled intense early race pressure from Chris Holder.

 

Whilst the resultant 4-2 in Swindon’s favour narrowed Poole’s margin of victory to eight, the Dorset side still gained all four Elite league points on offer.

 

"I can't be happy about the defeat, that would be silly. However, I'm far less disappointed about this result than I was with the defeat against Coventry," said Swindon team manager Ronnie Russell.

"Poole are a very strong side, they are on a high and that shows. However, there are still riders within our team that just aren't performing to their capability.

 

"I've had serious words with the riders in question but this doesn't seem to be enough. I will now sit down with my brother (Terry Russell) and Gary Patchett to talk about tonight, to talk about last week and to talk about next week. We need to discuss what changes need to be made and whether these are practical."

 

SWINDON
Leigh Adams (C) 2 6! 2 3 1 - - 14
Morten Risager 0 1 0 0 - - - 1
Mads Korneliussen 1 1 D 1 - - - 3
Grzegorz Zengota 0 0 3 6! - - - 9
Simon Stead 3 3 2 2* 3 - - 13 (1)
Justin Sedgmen 2 1 1 0 0 - - 4
Jordan Frampton 0 0 0 - - - - 0
Team manager: Ronnie Russell

POOLE
Chris Holder 3 2* 3 1 2 - - - 11 (1)
Darcy Ward 1 3 2* 1 - - - 7 (1)
Bjarne Pedersen 3 2 3 3 - - - 11
Jason Doyle 2* 0 1 1* - - - 4 (2)
Davey Watt (C) 2 2 2 R - - - 6
Craig Watson 1 0 1* - - - - 2 (1)
Artur Mroczka 3 1* 3 2* 2 0 – 11 (2)
Team manager: Neil Middleditch

Referee: Stuart Wilson