SWINDON Robins fell to their second defeat in as many meetings at the start of the 2017 SGB Premiership season as they were beaten at home by Belle Vue Aces 46-44.

Swindon rallied towards the end of the meeting, with Nick Morris top scoring with 13+1, but it was a case of too little too late.

It was a slow start for Swindon as the visitors recorded heat wins in the opening four heats at the Abbey, with the sun falling behind the pits.

Steve Worrall gated well in the first and beat Swindon skipper Jason Doyle, in gate four, to the first bend to control the race from the front.

While, Bradley Wilson-Dean, in his first meeting at the Abbey, struggled at the back and was never in the contest.

Emil Grondall got away well in heat two but Jack Smith went around the outside of bends one and two to take the win, Zach Wajtknecht doing well down the back straight of the opening lap to take third.

A flying start from Justin Sedgmen at his old track set him up for the win in heat three and he was followed into the first bend by Kenneth Bjerre, who did well to keep David Bellego behind him to claim the first maximum of the night.

Wajtknecht struggled off the start in heat four and in a bid to take the lead, Nick Morris got out of shape out of bend two and Belle Vue captain Craig Cook took full advantage to take the win and a share of the points to lead 15-9 at the first grading break.

Swindon came out after the momentary break to claim their first heat win of the night courtesy of Bellego, going all the way around the outside on lap one, however, a slow start from Adam Ellis saw the heat split.

Doyle flew out of the blocks like a man on a mission in heat six, but was followed home by Cook.

Wilson-Dean’s third-place finish gave Swindon their first heat advantage of the night.

A cracking start from Morris in heat seven saw him take the first corner, just ahead of Sedgmen, with Grondal struggling at the back.

Worrall had another fine start in heat eight as he beat the Swindon duo of Wilson-Dean and Wajtknecht into the first bend for shared heat to keep the Robins’ deficit at four points.

Bellego got away from the line well in heat nine but he went too wide out of bend two and Cook took the lead underneath as they battled it out well out in front.

Doyle got beaten into the first corner in heat 10 by Sedgmen and was pushed wide by the former Robin to fall to the back.

However, with Doyle working his way back up the field, Wilson-Dean ended up in the barrier on bend two of the second lap and was disqualified for the restart.

Doyle struggled off the line again but took advantage of Sedgmen getting out of shape in bend two to take the lead.

However, he was unable to take a second win of the evening as he was taken by Bjerre on the penultimate lap as Swindon fell eight points behind.

Wajtknecht replaced Grondall in heat 11 but made a poor get away as Morris made up for it to take the lead into bend one and the heat win.

Belle Vue gave themselves an almost unassailable lead in heat 12 with a 5-1 maximum from Bjerre and Bewley, following Ellis’ fall on the penultimate lap from second place.

With Swindon needing maximums from their last three heats just to tie, Doyle and Morris delivered in heat 13, with Morris doing a fine job to pip Cook to second.

Grondal found himself on his back before heat 14 started as his bike flipped at the tapes before the start of the race.

It only delayed the inevitable for Swindon as Belle Vue wrapped up the meeting victory when the heat finally got under way, despite Bellego claiming his second win for a 4-2 heat advantage.

Swindon opted for gates one and three in heat 15 and it was the Aussie duo of Morris and Doyle who recorded another heat maximum for Swindon but it was all in vain.

SWINDON 44: Jason Doyle 12+1 (2,3,2,3,2’), Bradley Wilson-Dean 3 (0,1,2, FX), Adam Ellis 0 (0,0,0,FX), David Bellego 9 (1,3,2,3), Nick Morris 13+1 (2,3,3,2’,3), Emil Grondal 3 (2,0,1), Zach Wajtknecht 4+3 (1’,1’,1’,0,1)

BELLE VUE ACES 46: Max Fricke 4+1 (1,1’,2,0), Steve Worrall 9+1 (3,2,3,1’,0), Kenneth Bjerre 10+2 (2’,1’,3,3,1), Justin Sedgmen 8 (3,2,1,2), Craig Cook 9 (3,2,3,1), Dan Bewley 3+1 (0,0,1,2’), Jack Smith 3 (3,0,0,0)