TUESDAY marked a year to the day since the accident that ended Darcy Ward’s speedway career but rather than lament the cruel twist of fate that robbed his friend of so much, Nick Morris prefers to concentrate on just how far his close friend has come in the 12 months since.

The prodigiously talented Ward, 24, suffered life-changing spinal injuries in a crash whilst riding for Zielona Gora in Poland and is expected never to be able to walk again.

Earlier this month, wheelchair-bound Ward, who is currently working towards getting back in control of a vehicle with an adapted car, returned to the Abbey Stadium to thank Swindon Robins fans for their support and close pal Morris is full of admiration for his former team-mate.

“It was a hard day (on Tuesday) but you try not to think about it too much,” said Morris.

“I saw Darcy a few weeks ago when he was visiting and we went out for dinner a few times to have a proper chat, and it was nice to do that.

“I’m really proud of how far he’s come and he’s got a lot to look forward to, like getting a car that he can use and things like that.

“He’s got a great girlfriend and great friends around him, and if he didn’t have that, it might be a different story, but it’s nice to see how well he’s doing.

“I’m looking forward to the next time I get to see him.”

Morris and the Robins gave their play-off chances another crucial boost with an excellent 50-42 win over Poole Pirates and the 22-year-old revealed that his team’s commitment to pre-race motivation paid dividends.

The Swindon man said: “We all got each other pumped up and we wanted it more than Poole in the end, which I think was what made the difference.

“It’s something that we’ve spoken about, especially myself and Josh (Grajczonek). Not everybody needs it – Doyley (Jason Doyle) doesn’t – but when we’re all yelling at each other and saying ‘come on’ to each other before races, it helps.

“I’ve always done it to myself. I’m always trying to get myself pumped up when I go to the line and it just gets that adrenaline going.

“I feel happy with how I’m riding now. I’ve got a lot more confident in my bikes and in myself and I just want to keep that going.

“It was awesome to get a win against Poole because if we didn’t, then we’d pretty much be out of the play-offs.

“We knew what we had to do and hopefully, we’re rolling again.

“It’s been an up down season but none of us want it to finish early, so we had to get that win and we did.”