Post by joshb on Aug 21, 2008 11:59:56 GMT 1
Swindon 51
Coventry 39THE Buildbase Bees are still searching for their second away win of the season after going down by 12-points at Blunsdon on Thursday.
The final margin in Swindon's favour was a little flattering as Bees had pegged the Robins' lead at four points for most of the meeting, only for the home team to pull away in the last three heats.
But by the same token, Bees could provide just four of the 15 heat winners and that will never usually be enough for overall victory.
19-year-old Croatian reserve Jurica Pavlic may be making most of the headlines as far as the Robins are concerned, but former Bees No.8 Troy Batchelor surely deserved the man-of-the-match award for a brilliant performance which included race wins over Hans Andersen and Chris Harris.
For Bees, there was a welcome return for Simon Stead after his crash at Wolverhampton on Monday, Olly Allen put in a very solid display on his old home circuit and Filip Sitera showed some good signs that he is settling into British racing.
Bees trailed 38-34 after Heat 12, but the next race saw the Robins extend their lead by two points, and it was probably the best of a meeting which generally saw places decided by the end of the first lap.
On this occasion, Andersen steamed inside Batchelor to take the lead on lap two, only to be caught himself by an identical move by Leigh Adams going into the last lap. Andersen was then relieved to make it to the finish in second place as his engine blew coming off the final turn.
Swindon then wrapped up victory with a 5-1 in Heat 14 as Travis McGowan went from fourth to second to follow team-mate Pavlic home.
SWINDON 51: Leigh Adams 13, Troy Batchelor 12, Jurica Pavlic 10+2, Mads Korneliussen 8+1, Travis McGowan 3+1, James Wright 3, Richard Sweetman 2.
BUILDBASE BEES 39: Hans Andersen 11, Chris Harris 9, Olly Allen 7+3, Simon Stead 7, Filip Sitera 4+1, Billy Janniro 1+1, Robbie Kessler 0.
