SWINDON Robins claimed their first meeting victory of 2017 and took control of their Knockout Cup first-round tie against Rye House Rockets with a stunning first leg success on the road.

After narrow defeats at Leicester Lions and at home to Belle Vue Aces in their opening two SGB Premiership fixtures, the Robins got it right at the third time of asking and did so in style at the Rye House Stadium to carry an eight-point advantage into the second leg at the Abbey Stadium on Thursday.

Nick Morris led the way for Alun Rossiter’s side with three wins from six rides for 14+1 points, while skipper Jason Doyle also reached double figures with 11.

The Robins were forced to make the trip with just six riders with Adam Ellis ruled out due to injury, but responded to the challenge by claiming 11 of 12 possible points in his absence – including heat wins for Bradley Wilson-Dean (9+1) and Emil Grondal (8).

Robins team manager Alun Rossiter said: “It was a great team performance. I had guessed from what I had seen from the first couple of meetings that the potential is there.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day but we saw good signs at home to Belle Vue on Thursday, so to come here and get a win – they beat Wolverhampton here last week – is an excellent performance. It was close all the way through but we 100 per cent deserved it.

“There were a lot of positives from the first few meetings. Belle Vue are a very strong side so to lose by two wasn’t too bad considering the position we were in, especially with Adam not scoring.

“We saw the difference when we got points from his rider replacement, we dropped one point from it. It just shows that even he had got seven or eight we would probably have won at Leicester and at home to Belle Vue.”

Swindon were given the edge in Heat One when Rye House’s Stuart Robson went down forcing a re-run but they could not capitalise as Edward Kennett beat Doyle off the line for the win.

Ben Morley made it two Rye House wins out of two in the next but a stunning start from Wilson-Dean got the Robins their first victory on the board in Heat Three. The New Zealander belted clear and despite wobbling all over the place behind, David Bellego was able to hold off Chris Harris for a superb Swindon maximum.

The scores were level at 12-12 after Heat Four as Scott Nicholls got the better of the Robins’ young Australian Morris into the first bend.

Swindon skipper Doyle got his first win of the night in the next as he was able to give Harris the slip in a close first lap, while Wilson-Dean had the edge on Davey Watt behind to hand the Robins the advantage, although the scores were soon level again at 18-18 after Heat Six as Kennett was able to hold off a game chase by Morris.

Having been last in that race, Robins reserve Grondal produced a stunning turnaround in the next as he showed nerves of steel to slingshot Nicholls up the back straight on lap one for a brilliant victory.

A classy ride from Wilson-Dean in Heat Eight saw him untroubled out front for his second win of the night although Zach Wajtknecht was way back so the points were shared.

Life was hard enough for Morris in Heat Nine as a fall for Grondal meant he was excluded from the re-run, but the Aussie youngster survived riding alone and a bang from Harris to snatch a vital victory.

A fall for Bellego meant Morris has it go it alone in Heat 10 too but he responded brilliantly once more, showing a clean pair of heels to the previously unbeaten Kennett to snatch a second straight win and keep the visitors 31-29 in front.

Doyle’s mesmerising move in the next saw him sneak up the inside of Nicholls on the back straight of lap one and the Swindon skipper’s superb win opened up the biggest overall lead of the night so far at four points.

That advantage was immediately halved in Heat 12 as Harris led from start to finish and Rye House made it back-to-back wins courtesy of Nicholls in the next although Doyle and Morris did at least earn the visitors a share of the points.

With Swindon two points ahead with two races to go, it looked like a nervy finish was on the cards. However a stunning race from the Robins saw them snatch a maximum and the overall win on the night as Grondal zoomed off the line and was followed home with ease by Bellego.

Swindon were able to push their advantage to eight points in the final heat as Morris nailed the start was away and clear for a third victory from six rides to put his side in a commanding position ahead of Thursday’s second leg at the Abbey Stadium.

“We have just got to make sure we do the job at home now, we can’t sit back and relax, we have got to make sure we keep going,” added Rossiter.

“We have to make sure we don’t get lazy, we make sure we are up for it and we finish the job on Thursday.”