THE Swindon Robins will head to the last-chance saloon in their bid to snatch a spot in the Elite League play-offs after failing to get over the line at the Belle Vue Aces tonight.

Alun Rossiter’s side required a losing point at Belle Vue to secure a top-four spot but were well-beaten in the north west and their destiny now hinges on Friday night’s trip to the Lakeside Hammers – the only team that can pip them to the play-offs.

Almost a month after arriving at the National Speedway Stadium to see a meeting called off at the last minute, the Robins’ penultimate regular season assignment saw them lock horns with the Elite League’s current table-toppers in Manchester.

Rossiter’s troops got themselves off to a corking start as Jason Doyle and Justin Sedgmen combined to give the visitors lift-off with a dominant 5-1 victory over Matej Zagar and former Robin Steve Worrall.

However, Swindon were brought back down to earth with a bump as the Aces hit straight back, with Joe Jacobs and Richie Worrall romping to a maximum against rival reserves Charles Wright and Stefan Nielsen.

Parity continued through heat three as Nick Morris failed to back up Rohan Tungate’s superb maiden ride and with the scores tied at 9-9, something had to give.

Unfortunately for the Robins, the pendulum swung Belle Vue’s way in heat four as Nielsen broke down early on while Josh Grajczonek had second-place wrestled from his grasp by home skipper Scott Nicholls as the hosts claimed their second maximum of the night.

The Aces added two more points to their lead courtesy of the Worrall brothers’ 4-2 win over Sedgmen and Wright in heat five and the Robins were forced to settle for a 3-3 draw in heat six as, despite Doyle storming to victory, Morris was cut up by Nicholls coming out of turn two before later retiring.

But Swindon did manage to chip away at the Aces’ advantage in the seventh race of the meeting as Tungate claimed his second heat victory while Grajczonek recovered from being passed by Craig Cook to snatch third and secure a 4-2 triumph.

Heat eight was drawn but in the ninth, Belle Vue struck a body blow as their pair of Worralls stormed past Grajczonek to clinch first and second place, rendering the Swindon man’s fine gate meaningless as they clinched a 5-1 victory to make it 31-23.

Next came the sucker-punch – for a change, the Robins’ GP star Doyle was unable to saunter to his usual routine victory as Max Fricke and Cook slammed the door shut on him and Sedgmen before blitzing to a stunning maximum to leave the Robins trailing by 12 points.

Tungate was handed the tactical ride and the chance for double points in heat 11 and despite his best efforts, he was unable to emerge victorious from a stunning race as Aces number one Zagar limited the damage to a 5-3 Swindon win.

With four races to go, the Robins had work to do but that losing point remained a possibility.

Nielsen, who had earlier been hooked in favour of Wright, roared back with a heat win in the 12th race of the meeting but the result was a 3-3 draw, keeping the nail-biting tension going.

But Swindon’s chances went up in smoke in heat 13 as Doyle suffered a breakdown early on while Zagar and Cook got the drop on Morris to help themselves to a maximum and stretch their lead beyond the Robins’ grasp.

It now all comes down to Friday night at Lakeside.