SWINDON Robins held their nerve to come out on top of a tense tussle with Elite League leaders Coventry Bees.

In the first meeting of the two sides since last season’s play-offs, Alun Rossiter’s men kept themselves in touch distance as they trailed by the tiniest of margins for long periods before powering to victory with a late surge inspired by Nick Morris, Kyle Howarth, Charles Wright and guest Dakota North.

The visitors struck the first significant blow of the meeting with a maximum in the second heat of the night, James Sarjeant and Jason Garrity easily triumphing in a reserve battle against Lewis Rose and Wright.

Returning Robin North, filling in for Adrien Miedzinski, looked like he’d never been away as he scorched to victory in heat three but Troy Batchelor’s chances of bringing home the second half of a Swindon 5-1 were dashed as he slowed at the last, with Chris Harris able to pip the home captain as his bike slowed.

Howarth’s heat victory in the fifth race of the night wiped out the Bees’ early advantage and brought the scores level at 15 apiece but returning skipper Hans Andersen’s subsequent heat win saw Coventry claw themselves back in front.

The clash remained nip and tuck as the two sides toiled, with Grzegorz Zengota clinching a fine victory in heat eight before a moment of magic from Howarth kept the home side in with a shout in heat nine.

Things looked ominous as Sarjeant and Danny King moved into a dominant position but from nowhere, youngster Howarth shot forward like a man possessed and rescued a share of the spoils for Swindon.

The next race of the meeting provided more drama as Batchelor became entangled in an almighty tussle with former team-mate Andersen and Stuart Robson whilst North raced away to victory.

Positions changed almost every moment but in the end, it was disappointment for the Robins skipper as he was bested and the score was 3-3 for the fourth successive heat.

The points gap remained at two after heat 11 but the landscape had finally shifted dramatically as the hosts led for the first time on the night following a stirring 5-1 from the in-form Morris and Howarth.

Morris’ stellar season continued as he crossed the line first whilst Howarth’s sparkling evening continued as he won a thrilling battle with visiting captain Harris to seal the maximum.

Another victory in the next race helped the Robins move further ahead, even if all the laps weren’t completed.

Wright rode sublimely to put himself on-course for a heat victory whilst Rose was supporting valiantly in third-place and after Sarjeant came off his bike as he attempted to make up for an earlier 15-metre penalty, referee Mike Posselwhite awarded the result to Swindon.

There was brief concern for Coventy’s Andersen as he suffered a nasty-looking fall after clipping the rear of Morris in heat 13 but the Danish rider was eventually up on his feet after plummeting head-first, although he was left sporting a broken finger.

Morris maintained Swindon’s second wind by reaching the chequered flag fastest in the re-run whilst the Bees’ Garrity was disqualified from the penultimate heat of the meet for bumping North into the barriers.

The Poole Pirates man showed no ill-effects in the re-run as he and Zengota sealed the Robins’ victory in style with a seemingly faultless maximum.

But there was a last hurrah for Coventry as they emphatically sealed a losing point, King and Harris shutting down Morris and Howarth to claim the final 5-1 of the meeting.