WHEN Swindon’s Nick Morris lost his balance in heat three, taking down team-mate Scott Nicholls with him, thoughts instantly turned to Monday evening’s disastrous meeting against Poole Pirates, where three Robins riders were hospitalised.

But the young Australian, standing in as captain for injured countryman Troy Batchelor, says that despite taking a tumble at the Abbey Stadium, he refused to let fear take hold of him.

Morris and Swindon rallied to claim their first victory of the new Elite League season on Thursday night, beating Lakeside Hammers 47-43, with the Robins man keen to put Monday’s cruel events behind him.

“They put a bit of dirt down last week, so I just hit that and went up. It would have been alright but I just tagged Scotty and came down,” said Morris.

“I wasn’t too worried. (Monday) was just a freak meeting and a couple of riders got hurt.

“I had a crash and it set me back for a couple of races but I scored alright and we got a win for the team so - can’t complain.”

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Nick Morris and Scott Nicholls collide at the back of the first bend sending both riders down

Former Swindon skipper Hans Andersen was one of four guests in a makeshift home line-up but the Danish ace inspired Alun Rossiter’s side to victory and looked like he’d never been away with a superb 14-point haul.

Morris said: “He’s rode here before and he always goes good here. He can gate like a demon and he was fast when he got in front too. He’s always been good ‘round here and he’s still got it.

“(Lakeside) were giving us a good fight and we weren’t getting it all our own way. We had to fight back and that’s what we did.

“It would have been good to have all the boys riding but we had a patched-up team and we got the win, so we just hope that the other boys will be back soon and we’ll try and win the next meeting.

“We didn’t win by much but got the win so on to the next one and we’ll improve from there. It’s early days and when everyone comes back and we get dialled in, we’ll be sweet.”

Visitors Lakeside posted the first maximum of the evening in heat four, Edward Kennett and Steve Boxall bringing home the bacon to bring the score to level pegging. It remained there through the next three heats before the pendulum swung the way of the Robins in the ninth.

Grzegorz Zengota clinched a fine victory but the race belonged to guest Lewis Blackbird, who superbly supported his team-mate and held off the challenge of Kim Nilsson to help rack up a 5-1 for Swindon.

Nicholls and Morris clinched another maximum for the hosts in heat ten and after Lakeside reeled the Robins back in with 4-2 wins in heats 13 and 14, a 5-1 win in heat 15 was enough for the Essex outfit to claim a draw.

But Swindon boss Rossiter knew who to turn to and Andersen had ice running through his veins as he effortlessly blitzed past Andreas Jonsson and Mikkel Bech in the decisive final race, ensuring there was no twist in the tale.