Swindon suffered more home disappointment with a 45-48 defeat to King’s Lynn at the Abbey on Thursday.
The Carpets 4 Less Robins were taught a lesson in gating by the Stars, who had four riders in top form including an ace reserve in Kai Huckenbeck.
And that meant a virtuoso performance from captain Jason Doyle wasn’t enough for the home side, who still await their first SGB Premiership win on their own circuit despite twice being successful on the road.
Even with two rapid early race wins for Doyle, Robins found themselves on the back foot as the visitors recorded a trio of 4-2s.
Former Swindon skipper Troy Batchelor was in fine form as he won his opening two outings, and when Lewis Rose and Huckenbeck combined for the first 5-1 of the night in Heat 8 the home side found themselves ten points down.
Matters got worse shortly after with Huckenbeck again playing a key role as he led team-mate Robert Lambert home in Heat 9 to leave the score line at 20-34 before the Robins played their tactical ride.
Doyle duly banked the full six points, albeit after a strong challenge from Batchelor, and with Huckenbeck coming to grief the home side had a glimmer of hope.
Debutant Dany Gappmaier snatched third place from Rose in Heat 11 but the Stars’ lead moved back into double figures when Huckenbeck and Nicklas Porsing secured a 4-2, split by Adam Ellis, in the next.
Doyle and Morris kept Swindon in with a chance with a 5-1 in a terrific Heat 13 – Morris winning a ding-dong scrap for second with Holder – but Batchelor extinguished those hopes by winning the penultimate race, before another Doyle/Morris maximum at least gained some respectability.
Boss Alun Rossiter said: “We’ve ridden our luck all year and got away with it, but our luck ran out tonight. We always leave it late and finish strongly, but this time it was way too late.
“We were out-gated all night. When we gated, we won races, but they were sharper than us and there are no excuses, they were the better side.
“The middle order is a serious worry for our team. I’ve already made one change and I won’t be frightened to make more if I have to.
“I have to think of the public, we have struggled so far and we have to address that. I know it’s not good enough, I think I’ve been fair and given people enough time now, so if they don’t start performing then I’ll be looking for changes.
“Nick, David (Bellego) and Jason are the ones who have carried us, and the rest have to step their game up. With the exception of Zach (Wajtknecht), they’ve not really come to the party.”
SWINDON 45: Jason Doyle 18, Nick Morris 10+2, David Bellego 7, Dany Gappmaier 3+3, Zach Wajtknecht 3+1, Bradley Wilson-Dean 2, Adam Ellis 2.
KING’S LYNN 48: Kai Huckenbeck 12+2, Troy Batchelor 12, Chris Holder 9, Robert Lambert 7+1, Lewis Rose 5+1, Nicklas Porsing 3, Josh Bailey 0.
