SWINDON Robins were well on their way to three valuable Elite League points before the rain spoiled the party this evening.

Three 5-1s in heats three, four and five laid the platform as Alun Rossiter’s men moved 12 points clear by the end of the fifth but, as the rain continued to fall the meeting was brought to an end after heat seven with the hosts leading 26-19.

Despite the washout there were positives for the Robins, with Simon Gustafsson looking good on his new engine, Steve Worrall impressing despite a mad dash from Scunthorpe this afternoon and Peter Kildemand and Troy Batchelor leading from the front.

The rain began to trickle down just before the start of heat one, Kildemand, Ben Barker and Dakota North made it to the first corner together with the Robins duo exiting in the lead. However, the Brummies number one was able to sneak past North to limit the damage for his side.

Worrall, fresh from his mad dash from Lincolnshire, looked quick but wasn’t able to catch Paul Starke in the opening reserve race as the visitors claimed their first heat advantage as Dan Greenwood’s poor run of luck continued as he pulled up on the second lap.

Nick Morris lifted at the start of heat three but was still able to produce a superb sweep up the inside of both King and Skornicki to join Batchelor for a maximum, before a great piece of team riding from Gustafsson helped Worrall to a victory in the next heat.

The Robins top two of Batchelor and Kildemand made it three maximums on the trot as they both made superb gates in heat five, forcing Birmingham boss Jack Lee to throw in Barker in black and white in a bid to salvage the meeting. The Brummies gated on a 5-1 but, in his haste to make it round Morris, Barker hit the fence in turn one and was excluded.

In Barker’s absence the Robins pair of Morris and Gustafsson were left to face lone Brummie Skornicki, who made a textbook start to win and stop the rot. Morris lifted at the start once again and did well to stay on his bike as he gave chase.

After failing with his first tactical ride, Lee wasted no time in using his second on former Robin Edward Kennett who delivered the goods in the wet for what ended up as a Brummies 7-2 in the final heat of the night.

However, with none of the four riders racing on full power due to the wet track, the meeting was brought to a premature end.