SWINDON Robins saw their superb winning sequence in the SGB Premiership come to a halt this evening in a hefty defeat at Rye House Rockets.

The Robins arrived at Rye House Stadium chasing a staggering 18th successive win in the top flight, although that was always likely to be a tough ask given numerous pre-meeting problems and the fact the Rockets were in desperate need of victory in order to join Swindon in the end-of-season play-offs.

Swindon had to do without the services of number two Adam Ellis, who was on Great Britain duty at the World U21 Team Championship Final in Poland, as he joined regular reserves Bradley Wilson-Dean and Zach Wajtknecht on the absentee list.

David Bellego was also hampered by engine issues, meaning the Frenchman failed to register a point in Hertfordshire, with Nick Morris leading the Swindon tally on nine before the meeting was called to a premature halt after heavy rain began to fall after heat 12.

Although disappointed by the defeat, Robins team manager Alun Rossiter was not too down as the primary goal of the week had been achieved the previous evening as his side secured top seeding for the play-offs in their home win over Wolverhampton Wolves.

“Rye House are in good form at home so it’s just one of those things. They were the better side, no arguments,” said Rossiter, whose side conclude their regular season fixtures at Wolves on Monday.

“There are no excuses from us, although we are pretty depleted. We have got no Adam, David has been struggling since his engine blew up and we couldn’t find a rider for reserve, we just had to get a junior in the end in George Hunter.

“We’ve already done the main job but it is still frustrating to lose as we would have liked to have done a job for the people that came up.

“We’ve done well here before and this is the first time we have been beaten here this year. That is disappointing but we’ve had a good run and we will try to bounce back on Monday now.”

Swindon skipper Jason Doyle gave the visitors a winning start to the night with a tapes-to-flag success in the opener, with the points tally boosted by a superb pass from guest Tero Aarnio on Ben Barker on the home straight of the final lap to snatch third place.

The Rockets came roaring back immediately and claimed maximums in each of the next two contests, as first Ben Morley led home Stuart Robson before Ricky Wells did likewise from Krzysztof Kasprzak.

The visitors needed a response in heat four but Morris could not quite deliver it as he was outfoxed by Scott Nicholls off the line and had to settle for second in another Rye House heat advantage.

It was turning into a tough night for the Robins as not even Doyle could get them back into the winners’ enclosure as Kasprzak nailed a beauty of a start to win the battle of the first bend in the next as another heat advantage gave Rye House a 20-10 cushion.

With his side 10 points in arrears, Swindon boss Rossiter sent Morris out on a tactical ride in heat six and he delivered a gutsy win. However, Chris Harris expertly shut the door on Aarnio in the battle for third, meaning it was only a three-point advantage for the visitors.

Tobiasz Musielak made it back-to-back wins for Swindon in the next, holding off the hard chase of Nicholls in a shared heat, and the points outcome was the same in the eighth race as Barker triumphed for Rye House.

The home side then began to turn the screw and Kasprzak and Wells combined to deliver a maximum in the next heat before the best race of the night resulted in the same outcome in the 10th contest.

Musielak got the best start and led for two laps but Barker sneaked by, meaning the Pole had to adjust, and Harris then grasped his chance to pass too to push his side’s overall advantage to a hefty 39-24.

Doyle looked like handing Swindon a much-needed win in heat 11 after seeming to nail the start but Nicholls used every inch of the track around the first lap to nose ahead before holding off the charge of the Robins number one to the line.

Heavy rain began to fall as the riders emerged for the 12th race, although that did not deter Wells as he shot off the line to enjoy a trouble-free ride out front in a shared heat, and it was no surprised when it was announced that would be the conclusion to the evening’s action as the wet weather took its toll on the track.

RYE HOUSE ROCKETS 46 SWINDON ROBINS 29

RYE HOUSE: Chris Harris 5+2 (2-1’-2’), Ben Barker 8 (0-2-3-3), Ricky Wells 9+1 (3-1-2’-3), Krzysztof Kasprzak 8+1 (2’-3-3), Scott Nicholls 8 (3-2-3), Stuart Robson 4+2 (2’-1’-1), Ben Morley 4 (3-1-0-0).

SWINDON: Jason Doyle 7 (3-2-2), Adam Ellis (R/R), Tobiasz Musielak 7+2 (1-3-1’-1-1’), David Bellego 0 (0-0-0), Nick Morris 9 (2-6^-1), Tero Aarnio (G) 6 (1-1-0-2-0-2), George Hunter (G) 0 (0-0-0-0).