A season of thrills and spills

SWINDON were left licking their wounds as a bizarre opening meeting at the Abbey saw the team that Rossiter had worked hard to build over the winter decimated.

With the Good Friday double header against Poole called off courtesy of some seasonal Bank Holiday wet weather, the home meeting with the reigning champions was quickly rescheduled for Easter Monday and it was a day to forget for the home side.

Ambulances were in short supply as Troy Batchelor (concussion) and Lewis Rose (ankle) both went down, while Adrian Miedzinski suffered a hand injury which would eventually curtail his Robins career, with all three taken to the Great Western Hospital.

The meeting was cut short by two races, handing Poole a 47-33 victory and leaving Rossiter physically shaken.

“I can’t believe what’s happened, I’m shocked to be honest and I really don’t know what to say,” he said.

Swindon bounced back three days later as Hans Andersen stepped into the number one spot to guide his former club to a three-point victory at home to Lakeside.

The Hammers got their revenge the following evening as Nick Morris and Grzegorz Zengota were the only two riders left of the original septet and the makeshift team were smashed 62-28.

That was followed by an away defeat to King’s Lynn as Rossiter continued to struggle with a patched-up side.

Swindon’s home form was able to get them out of a hole by the end of the month as Nick Morris began to shine with 11+3 against King’s Lynn and 12+2 against Wolverhampton Wolves.

Grzegorz Zengota claims a rare Swindon win during their disappointing first home meeting against Poole

MAY

THE Robins continued their fine home form into May as they completed a 48-42 win over Belle Vue Aces, inspired by the return of Peter Kildemand.

However, the wait for their first away win went on as they had to make do with a losing point four days later.

With Batchelor, Morris and Kyle Howarth all called up to represent their countries at the World Cup, Swindon were able to complete a 10-point win over Leicester Lions at the Abbey despite not having a number one rider, with Kildemand ruled out with a recurrence of his knee injury.

As the month came to an end it was Morris who had taken the number one role as his own and he led Swindon to a four-point victory over Coventry Bees, in spite of Batchelor’s food poisoning, to continue the Robins’ revival.

Kyle Howarth triumphs during Swindon's four-point victory against Coventry at the Abbey

JUNE

THE start of June saw Kildemand end his stint with the Robins as his expected final meeting with Leicester was washed out.

Meanwhile, Morris and Batchelor were helping the Aussies into the final of the World Cup, while Rossiter and his Great Britain team had to settle for a race-off place in Norfolk.

However, Team GB were unable to book their place in the final and it was more disappointment for Aussie’s Batchelor and Morris and Dane Kildemand as they were pipped by Sweden to the World Cup win.

Meanwhile, Howarth, who was a reserve rider for GB, missed out on the final stages of the British Final as Tai Woffinden took the title in Wolverhampton.

Back in the Elite League Swindon suffered a rare home defeat as Belle Vue Aces completed a 14-point victory.

As it became clear that Miedzinski was unlikely to make a return to Swindon following his hand injury, Rossiter began looking at other options and it wasn’t long before the name of Darcy Ward, who was due to return from a 10-month ban at the end of the month, was being mentioned.

Pole Miedzinski did make one final appearance for Swindon but it turned out to be an evening to forget for the Robins.

On one of the lowest points of the season, Swindon went down to a 14-point defeat at Leicester, with Miedzinski failing to score a single point to mark the end of his Robins career.

After signing as number one over the winter Adrian Miedzinski rode just twice for the Robins

JULY

JULY started with Rossiter having to make tough decisions in his middle order with the anticipated arrival of Ward.

Howarth and Zengota were both riding for their futures and did not make it easy for the Robins team manager as they completed a 60-32 win over Wolverhampton at the Abbey.

Meanwhile, Batchelor was back on the injury list after suffering a heavy fall in the British Grand Prix.

Howarth got the dreaded axe from the Robins to make way for Ward and Czech youngster Eduard Krcmar.

Aussie Ward was unable to inspire the Robins in his first meeting as they fell to a seven-point defeat at Leicester, as Morris (elbow) also suffered injury.

However, it wasn’t long until he was having the desired impact, with paid 12 points to secure an eight-point win over his parent club Poole, although Rose suffered shoulder and wrist injuries.

Despite that, Swindon were able to secure their first away win of the campaign as they beat Wolverhampton, with Zengota impressing with paid 16.

Morris was ruled him out of the meeting away at Poole, a night which saw Darryl Ritchings pull on Robins kevlars for the first time since his injury, just two days later and the Robins were handed a reality check by the reigning champions.

However, Swindon bounced straight back to end the month with back-to-back wins over Lakeside Hammers to bring to an end a week of four meetings.

Grzegorz Zengota and Darcy Ward celebrate Swindon's victory at Wolverhampton

AUGUST

THE Robins began August with another new signing to help patch up their depleted septet.

Robert Branford was brought in on a short-term deal to replace the injured Rose and made an immediate impact as he and Ward, who got a new track record, helped Swindon to a second away win of the season at Wolverhampton.

Swindon soon found themselves back in the transfer market as they swooped for Aaron Summers to replace Krcmar, who had struggled to settle in his first stint in British speedway.

Rossiter was left fuming the same evening as he blamed ‘pathetic’ calls for his side's six-point defeat away to Belle Vue Aces.

After the meeting with Poole was called off, Swindon were able to respond with a 15-point win over King’s Lynn as Summers shined, before Rossiter’s side flexed their play-off muscles to beat Coventry 55-36 at Brandon.

However, that weekend things took a tragic turn for the worse. Whilst riding for Polish side Falubaz Zielona Gora, Ward suffered a life-changing injury as he flipped over the handlebars of his bike in heat 15 to leave him with a severe spinal injury.

The accident rocked the speedway world and understandably had an impact on Swindon’s season on the track.

The Robins' next two meetings with Poole and King’s Lynn were postponed as Ward was flown back to a private clinic in Dorset.

Swindon were able to put the nightmare week behind them when they beat Leicester 51-39 in the first meeting since the accident.

Riders from Swindon and Coventry show their support for the injured Darcy Ward

SEPTEMBER

SWINDON were boosted by the return of Kildemand and Rose for the run-in to the play-offs but the Robins' form going into them was sporadic.

On a damp night at Brandon, a dispirited Robins side were unable to overcome Coventry, but the losing point secured their place in the play-offs with three meetings remaining.

Rossiter’s side were able to exact revenge a day later with an eight-point win before heading to Poole, where they were able to secure a draw, with Ward’s father, George, watching from the pits.

Swindon found out they were facing Belle Vue in the play-offs before having the worst preparation as they fell to a 12=point defeat away to King’s Lynn.

Things did not get any better once the play-offs kicked off.

With Rossiter questioning the tactics of the first leg hosts, Swindon left themselves with a mountain to climb to reach the finals as they were well beaten 50-36.

Despite the big deficit, Rossiter remained optimistic but a day of rain prior to the second leg left the track in a bad way.

After a slow start, Swindon were never able to get back into the meeting as they lost at the Abbey and were beaten 97-79 on aggregate to bring a disappointing end to a bizarre season.

Peter Kildemand takes a tumble in the Robins' play-off defeat to Belle Vue