SWINDON Robins chief Alun Rossiter cut a frustrated figure following his side’s dramatic 48-42 defeat at Elite League play-off rivals Belle Vue last night.

A losing bonus point did little to placate the Robins chief, who saw his team bested by the Aces in a meeting that became near-farcical towards the latter stages, with constant delays caused by a host of crashes and exclusions, and even an incorrect flag from the officials.

But it was the handling of Craig Cook’s exclusion in heat 14 that most irked Rossiter, with referee Darren Hartley forcing the Belle Vue man to return to action to complete a required minimum of three rides , causing a lengthy delay as the Aces rider got changed back into his kevlars to effectively replace himself.

Cook was initially excluded for encroaching on the tapes and riders and management from both teams were left remonstrating on the track as the officials toiled in their efforts to come to the correct decision.

“He made a mistake allowing them to put the reserve in but then to give him 10 minutes to get dressed again; it should have been two minutes straight away,” said Rossiter, who also took umbrage with a broken pit lane phone and the state of the first corner of the track.

“Some of the refereeing decisions were shocking. The phone wasn’t working either. It’s professional sport and it’s a disgrace.

“It’s started with the start marshall signalling for three laps, a phone that doesn’t work and a referee making decisions that were absolutely shocking and allowing a rider to get back in the race. How can you do that?

“Ten minutes so that he can get back in the race is pathetic.

“It didn’t help having the one line on the first corner of the track – everybody’s trying to race for it and it’s going to cause an accident, with somebody seriously hurt.

“It wasn’t good at all in my opinion. Everyone in gate four was at such an advantage and it was all on the first corner.”