ALUN Rossiter went searching for something to inspire his riders against the Coventry Bees last night – but came up empty as the Swindon Robins were dumped out of the Elite League play-offs.

The Robins boss revealed that he attempted to use Coventry’s post-meeting celebrations to stoke a fire in Swindon’s bellies, but there was no stemming the tide as the Bees ran out 50-45 winners at the Abbey Stadium, moving into the Grand Final with a 13-point aggregate victory.

Rossiter’s team struggled with a damp surface at Blunsdon and were forced to bow out of the fight for Elite League glory.

“I kept rallying and talking. I was a little bit disappointed when the visiting team started cheering when riders fall off – I find that a bit of bad taste but that’s got nothing to do with it,” said the Abbey chief.

“I did try and use that to spur us on a little bit but it wasn’t to be and (at) end of the day, we were beaten by the better side.

“(I’m) bitterly disappointed. I think the weather made it a bit of a leveller.

“The bends were fine but the straights were just slops. If the track is like it normally is, how we have it, it would have been fine but it just made it a leveller.

“It made it a leveller and made it equal for them. We were just poor out of the start and it’s not through a lack of commitment from the boys.

“It’s just the set-up of the bikes and we didn’t set it up right.

“I just thanked them for their efforts all season. I just said that there are a lot of other teams that would like to swap places with us and be in this situation, but it still doesn’t make it any better.”