SWINDON Robins kept their play-off push in rude health with a sublime victory over Elite League leaders Wolverhampton Wolves at the Abbey Stadium tonight.

Alun Rossiter’s men won’t be in action again until they meet the same opponents on July 18 but for the time being at least, they’ll be sitting pretty in second place after taming the Wolves.

Wolverhampton arrived with three former Robins in their ranks – Nicolai Klindt and Scott Nicholls in as guests for the absent Jacob Thorsell and Joonas Kylmakorpi, whilst Kyle Howarth was also at reserve – and the visitors were also operating a rider replacement system for Peter Karlsson.

Swindon got off to bumpy start as, after a promising start from Jason Doyle and Rohan Tungate, the latter bumped into the former, fell, and was disqualified.

But in the re-run, a confident ride from Robins skipper Doyle saw him streak away from Freddie Lindgren and Ashley Morris, with the GP ace crossing the line first to ensure the race was drawn.

There were more thrills and spills in the first reserve race of the evening in heat two, with Howarth spinning out to set-up a three-man contest.

Charles Wright nipped past Ashley Morris to get Swindon on track for a maximum but then leader Stefan Nielsen suffered a hiccup and was sent careering into the air fence, with the Robins number seven injuring his hands and going on to play no further part in the meeting.

The Wolves’ Sam Masters looked to have stolen a march in heat three but Josh Grajczonek roared back with a superb piece of overtaking to retake the lead – however, he was denied the chance to earn a winning time as Nick Morris fell to cause another early stoppage.

The drama abated somewhat in the fourth heat of the meeting as all four riders managed to cross the line but Justin Sedgmen was the quickest, with the Robins number four producing a superb ride to hand his team a 4-2 win, making it 13-10 overall.

Former Swindon rider Howarth pulled one right out of the top drawer to storm to victory in heat five but Ashley Morris couldn’t trouble Tungate and Wright as the spoils were shared.

Then, in the sixth, the Wolves struck the first significant blow of the contest as, after one re-run for an unsatisfactory start, Lindgren and Nicholls slammed the door shut on Sedgmen and Nick Morris to help themselves to a maximum.

But Swindon produced the ideal response in heat seven, with Doyle and Grajczonek leaving Masters and Klindt eating their dust as they romped to the Robins’ first 5-1 win of the night.

Heat eight proved a walk in the park for race-winner Sedgmen, who helped post a 4-2 victory alongside Wright, and Tungate followed suit in heat nine with a blistering hell-for-leather display.

Then, after enduring a poor evening until that point, Nick Morris came to the party in the 10th race of the meeting and blazed his way to a maximum alongside the impressive Grajczonek, extending the hosts’ lead to 11 points at 35-24.

Wolverhampton rolled the dice in heat 11 by handing Nicholls the black and white helmet, and coming out of the second bend of the opening lap, the Belle Vue Aces veteran momentarily led, but Swindon skipper Doyle sprang into action and fired himself into the ascendancy to ensure a 4-4 draw and maintain his team’s advantage.

Following Nielsen’s withdrawal, Wright was forced to take on Ashley Morris and Howarth on his own in heat 12 but it mattered little for the Robins man as he excellently nipped in between his two opponents before supremely storming to victory.

Doyle and Grajczonek superbly rescued a draw from the jaws of defeat in heat 13, with the 3-3 result against Lindgren and Nicholls securing Swindon’s victory, but the home side suffered a late blip as Masters and Klindt earned a late 5-1 against Sedgmen and Nick Morris in the penultimate heat of the night.

There were sharp intakes of breath around the Abbey in heat 15 as British GP-bound Doyle crashed out but the Swindon skipper dusted himself down and roared back with yet another classy race win to round off an excellent night for Rossiter's troops.