IN THE end, Swindon Robins ran out comfortable 53-40 winners over Wolverhampton last Thursday.

But the day did not start well as an embarrassing internal admin error left Peter Kildemand unable to take his place in the team.

He was replaced by Jason Doyle while Rory Schlein was due to come in for Greg Zengota who was involved in a Polish GP qualifier in Rawicz – a meeting he won with 13 points.

However, a breakdown on the way to the track meant that Schlein would not have been able to get to the Abbey until 7.15pm – a major risk with tapes up at 7.40pm.

Manager Alun Rossiter decided to look elsewhere and was fortunate to bring in Josh Grajczonek at just four hours' notice. Grajczonek lives in Manchester but was located in Somerset!

The match itself was less eventful. Successive 5-1 heat wins in races five and six gave the home side a 12-point cushion but a tactical win in the next heat by Ricky Wells brought the deficit down to nine. The Wolves secured 4-2 race wins in heats nine and 11 but Doyle, with a spectacular cutback, and Troy Batchelor nailed a 5-1 in the 13th race to secure the win.

For Batchelor it was an up-and-down night. Effectively this was virtually the beginning of his British season and while two electric starts led to two fast wins, his confidence was not quite there when he was caught in the pack.

The star for Swindon was undoubtedly Nick Morris with a paid 14 total; his only defeat being to Andorra-based Finn Joonas Kylmakorpi in the penultimate race.

This is a keynote season for the 20-year-old Australian and so far he is coming up with the goods.

SWINDON: Nick Morris 12+2, Jason Doyle 10+3, Josh Grajczonek 8+1, Charles Wright 7+2, Kyle Howarth 7, Troy Batchelor 6, Lewis Rose 3+2.
WOLVERHAMPTON: Ricky Wells 11, Peter Karlsson 7, Freddie Lindgren 6+1, Lewis Blackbird 6+1, Joonas Kylmakorpi 5+1, Jacob Thorssell 5, Nathan Greaves 0.

In other action, last Saturday, Kildemand top-scored for Denmark in a Test match against Poland in Ostrow.

Kildemand scored 14 points from six races and teamed up with Niels-Kristian Iversen in a deciding final heat but the pair were on the wrong end of a 5-1 as Poland took the meeting 49-43.

Otherwise there was no Polish speedway across the country’s three leagues which left Batchelor, Kildemand and Zengota with a free Sunday, while Morris, Kyle Howarth and Lewis Rose also had free Sundays due to rain-offs. Meanwhile Batchelor had a rare guest appearance struggling for one point from two starts in a rain-affected fixture for Lakeside at Coventry

Looking ahead the Robins hope to pack the Abbey Stadium for the visit of Coventry Bees and Sky Sports on Tuesday, May 26.

Admission is slashed to £5 for this televised fixture with children up to the age of 11 free of charge.

It’s likely to be one of the last visits to the Abbey by the broadcaster in the venue's farewell season before the team move to their new site in 2016.

Rossiter said: “We want to see the place packed for the TV meeting. It should be a great night of racing and we want a special atmosphere.”

This Thursday's the visitors to the Abbey are Manchester’s Belle Vue Aces.

The Aces are led by the enigmatic Slovenian 2009 Robin, Matej Zagar, who heads the Grand Prix series after the disastrous Warsaw meeting. The team also includes another popular former Robin, the seven-times British champion Scott Nicholls. It could be a close affair.

If he is in the mood Craig Cook could be a threat while 2014 Robin of the Year Steve Worrall returns along with talented 19-year-old Aussie Max Fricke who did much to knock the Robins out of the play-off semi final last season.

It was good to see Purton rider Darryl Ritchings score 11+1, including three heat wins, as he headed the score chart for Coventry Storm in their narrow 48-42 defeat at Mildenhall.

Ritchings also claimed a point in Coventry Bees’ Elite League win at Lakeside last Friday.