SKIPPER Jason Doyle reckons that the new-look Swindon Robins have a responsibility to restore faith in themselves when they renew hostilities with Poole Pirates after their ‘embarrassing’ shellacking in Dorset today.

Alun Rossiter’s side lifted the curtain on the 2016 Elite League season with a trip to Wimborne Road, but managed to record just a single heat victory as they were slapped from pillar to post by reigning champions Poole.

The Robins were humbled 61-31 by the Pirates but ahead of the sides’ quickfire reunion at the Abbey Stadium on Easter Sunday (tapes-up 5pm), number one Doyle is hoping that his team’s crushing defeat will act as an early wake-up call.

“It wasn’t the start we wanted. To be honest, I was quite embarrassed because of the score,” said the Australian ace.

“It’s kind of a good thing, I guess, to get flogged – we actually got annihilated and we need to move forward now and we need to go to Swindon on Sunday and hopefully get back in the rhythm and get our first home win.

“The first couple of meetings in a new team; the boys were nervous and I think it’s mainly because they want to show the supporters and the Swindon management that they can do it.

“Poole; it’s a tough place to come. They’re always going to be in the play-offs and they’ve always had a solid team from one to seven.

“Poole know their set-ups from the start but to be honest, I think the boys were on the pace in some races but it was always not making the start that made it a lot more difficult.

“We need to move on – that’s the main thing – but we need to keep our heads high and hopefully do better.

“I think we need to restore some faith and pride in our racing.

“It’s a long season. It’s a long way to go and we’ve got another six months of racing.

A rampant Pirate looked on course to navigate an entire meeting unbeaten, but for Josh Gracjzonek and Rohan Tungate’s heat win in the penultimate race of the day.

There was a tricky start for Justin Sedgmen as he took a tumble in the first lap of the opening heat, leaving Doyle to settle for second place in the re-run.

In heat two, the Pirates’ reserves set the tone as Kyle Newman scorched to the head of the pack and, alongside Adam Ellis, helped his side score an early maximum against Charles Wright and Stefan Nielsen.

That Poole victory laid the foundations for Krzysztof Buczkowski and home skipper Davey Watt to sweep aside Grajczonek and Nick Morris in heat three and in heat four, a hyper-aggressive start from former Robins captain Hans Andersen paid dividends as he cut across the field and claimed the lead whilst Newman ghosted past Wright to rack up the Pirates’ third successive 5-1 and hand them an ominous 19-5 lead.

Things didn’t get any better for Rossiter’s troops in the fifth race of the day as, after the returning Sedgmen had been passed by Ellis, Nielsen suffered an awkward fall and was left lying prostrate on the ground as the three other riders hurtled towards him.

The red flag was eventually raised and the heat was awarded, Poole stretching their run of successive maximums to four.

Doyle was handed a tactical ride in heat six as the visitors rolled the dice and despite a thrilling battle he had the door firmly slammed shut on him by Andersen and despite an early pass, Morris was also held off as the home team limited the damage, drawing 4-4.

Buczkowski and Chris Holder were flawless in heat seven as they left Grajczonek and Tungate eating their dust, but perhaps spurred on by his earlier fall, Robins number two Sedgmen finally gave the visitors something to shout about with a determined victory in heat eight but Nielsen was unable to get near Andersen and Newman and Poole’s lead remained in pristine condition.

A spirited ride from Wright in the next race looked to have the Swindon reserve on course to follow in Sedgmen’s tracks as he made all of the early running but with each passing lap, his lead decreased, and after Ellis had passed him, Kurtz nipped into second place at the final turn to resume normal service with yet another 5-1.

Doyle refused to lie down in heat 10 and recorded a classy heat victory against opposite skipper Watt but the Pirates remained unbeaten and in the 12th, hardy ride from Wright wasn’t quite enough to clinch him a race win, with Ellis and Newman combining to rack up a 4-2 triumph.

Holder and Morris then racked up another heat win by the same scoreline but the Robins were finally given something to cheer in the second-to-last race of the night as Grajczonek stormed away from Andersen whilst Tungate nipped in front of Watt, who appeared to suffer engine issues, to win 4-2 and finally spoil Poole’s glistening display.

The Robins were brought back to earth at the last though, with only a mistake from Andersen that allowed Doyle to nick second place preventing them from signing off with a maximum on a chastening day for Swindon.