Swindon lose at King's Lynn

Swindon Robins saw their unbeaten disappear at King's Lynn - who moved above them into second with a 54-40 win at the Norfolk Arena.

The match as a contest always looked unlikely after the BSPA ruled that Swindon could not use any sort of facility for number one Hans Andersen - who was riding in a European Championship qualifier, which the British authorities don't recognise as an official event.
Therefore Swindon had to use Conference League Lewis Blackbird - who unsurprisingly from number one scored zero from his three rides.

King's Lynn were never really troubled with Rory Schlein (13+1), Niels-Kristian Iversen (13) and Seb Alden (10+1) all hitting double figures whilst new signing David Howe impressed on his return to the side with paid 9.

Swindon put up a stern defence, with Troy Batchelor, Peter Kildemand and Edward Kennett all showing up well - but without Andersen, it was a lost cause for them from the start.

Robins boss Alun Rossiter said: "It was always going to be tough going there without Hans. Kings Lynn are strong side and they showed that tonight around their home track.

"Troy always seems to raise the bar when he steps in and he was fantastic for us.

"Peter and Eddie also rode well, but in the end we just didn't have enough fire power."

Meanwhile, Poole shrugged off some of their early season struggles with a comfortable 53-39 win over Eastbourne Eagles at Wimborne Road.

Polish duo Maciej Janowski and Dawid Stachyra were impresious with 26 points between them, including a maximum for the latter.

World champion Chris Holder was comfortable for his paid 12, but Darcy Ward's Elite League struggles continued as he claimed just paid 6 which included a heavy fall in his last outing.

Pirates boss Neil Middledtich said: "As a team we were much improved this evening although I still know there is more to come. But getting three points out of one meeting is a relief at last. We must build on that now."