DAKOTA North admits that he was surprised to see the in-form Swindon Robins surrender with a whimper in the Elite League play-offs.

Australian North linked up with Alun Rossiter’s Robins back in April, stepping in to the gap left by the departed Nicolai Klindt and helping Swindon turn their fortunes around and march into the post-season hunt for honours.

But things didn’t come together for the 23-year-old and his team-mates as they were unceremoniously booted out of the play-offs in their own back yard by the Coventry Bees.

“Before I got here, the team was really struggling,” North said.

“I got in and we turned the season the season around and made the play-offs, when they weren’t looking likely at all.

“Just getting to the play-offs is a good result and I’m sure a lot of other teams would have liked to have swapped places with us.

“But it’s disappointing. I knew that (it could have been different) if it was the normal Swindon – we haven’t looked like getting beat for the last three months.

“We’ve been pretty unstoppable around here.

“Usually we can ride this track pretty good but it just didn’t happen and it was disappointing.

“I wasn’t really looking forward to going on the track after all the rain they had.

“I’m not knocking the track staff because they did all they could do but the damage was already done.

“You could see there were probably one or two passes from a mistake but it was all out of the starts and we obviously were the worst out of the starts, which I think we normally are on the best of nights.

“I’m disappointed that we’ve gone out like this but what can you say – the weather won.

“It’s a ‘what-if’ but I think it would have been a different result if the weather hadn’t intervened.

“It’s just a shame. I honestly feel we could have won the play-offs.

“The season should have finished a month ago – this weather’s rubbish.”