SWINDON came within a whisker of gaining a first leg advantage from their tricky Premier Trophy semi-final trip to Hull last night - and at the same time made themselves favourites to reach the final.

The Robins were ahead for the majority of the match, right from the moment they took the lead with a 4-2 in Heat two until Hull staged a late rally.

Victory was taken away from Swindon by the fact that Hull provided more racewinners - 11 out of the 15 races - but in the context of a home and away tie, this was a satisfactory night's work from Jed Stone's men.

Passing was, perhaps understandably, difficult on the tight Craven Park track which is designed around the pitch of the famous Hull Kingston Rovers Rugby League club.

Paul Thorp was the hero for the home side with his first full maximum of the season. He made five good starts and no Swindon rider could manage to pass him.

Points went begging for both sides. Lee Dicken hit the fence when he was third for Hull in Heat 5 and just two races later Robins' Martin Dixon suffered a mechanical problem and pulled out when third.

Oliver Allen, who has been struggling for confidence of late, gave a determined display in Heat 11 to take Rene Aas wide down the back straight and that helped keep Swindon four points ahead.

By this stage it looked as though the Robins would be taking a lead back home for the return leg on July 27 - but there was still some life left in the East Yorkshire outfit. Paul Smith pulled off a big win over Neil Collins in Heat 12 and,with Aas holding out Nathan Murray, the Vikings were back within two points.

The turning point came in Heat 14 when Lee Dicken made a superb start and he was joined by the Estonian Aas. Robins reserve Claus Kristensen tried hard to get the better of Aas, but the Hull rider continued to shut the door at crucial times.

With a two-point lead under their belt, Hull went into a last heat decider with more confidence than at any other time of the night.

Thorp duly completed his maximum ahead of Frank Smart and, with Garry Stead having the edge over Paul Fry, it was enough to give Hull a slender advantage.

Robins continue their hectic schedule of four matches in seven days when they entertain high flying Workington Comets in the league at Blunsdon tonight (7.30pm).