ALUN Rossiter was left with a bitter taste in his mouth after watching his side blow an 11-point advantage as Swindon Robins were dumped out of the SGB Premiership Knock-Out Cup by Belle Vue.

Swindon came into the second-leg of this semi-final after winning the first meet 50-39 at the Abbey Stadium last week.

However, the Robins chief was forced to draft in Brady Kurtz for skipper Jason Doyle, who was in Sweden preparing for the latest round of the Grand Prix, while Tomas H Jonasson and Liam Carr came in at reserve for Bradley Wilson-Dean and the injured Zach Wajtknecht.

Rossiter said despite the tricky conditions in Manchester, his side failed to capitalise on their advantage as they lost 52-39 on the night, and 91-88 on aggregate.

“I think that meeting was won and lost at reserve. It was a little bit harsh on Brady but Jason Doyle would have got you a few more points,” said Rossiter.

“I think that was the difference between winning and losing, but I can’t fault Brady’s efforts.

“I’m bitterly disappointed at the moment, we should have been in the final. It was lost at reserve and early doors.

“David (Bellego) also took a long time to set up. You can point fingers all over but at the end of the day, we had half a team.

“It wasn’t really ideal and I’m not criticising anybody, I am just disappointed - I’m really frustrated because we shouldn’t have lost that.”

After winning the toss and electing gates one and three, the visitors got off to the perfect start as Adam Ellis held his nerve early on, as he hugged the track tight round bend one, and reaped the rewards with an opening 5-1 win, with Kurtz coming second.

The second instalment wasn’t quite as close, Jonasson tried his best and pushed hard to track Dan Bewley, but never really troubled the front runner as the heat ended 3-3.

Hans Anderson came storming around the corner from gate four in heat three, and produced a good team ride with Rohan Tungate to secure a 5-1 for the hosts, which also levelled the scores on the night.

Next up saw Carr make a good start on the inside, but couldn’t beat the pace of Cook who overtook him with ease, but another solid ride from Morris saw him hoover up the points in second.

Ellis came through the pack well to lead in the following race, while Kurtz was forced to retire with bike trouble as the visitors tie up another heat. In the sixth, there was the meeting’s first red light of the night as, Jonasson was excluded for not being under power at the start.

In the re-run Morris made a flying start but went a little wide in the first bend, allowing Kenneth Bjerre to sneak on the inside as the heat ended 3-3.

In heat seven, Belle Vue continued to dent Swindon’s aggregate lead as Cook and Bewley snatched a timely 5-1 for the Aces.

Heat nine was another hugely competitive race and Ellis does really well to snatch second place and reduce the damage as the Aces continued to chip away at Swindon’s advantage.

Another thunderous start from Morris saw him claim the heat win, but Jonasson suffered another frustrating outing as he trails in fourth with six heats remaining.

Heat ten saw Musielak go wide and great pace to get round the other three riders, while David Bellego pops up with third place to recorded a much needed Swindon advantage.

In the 11th, Ellis, who enjoyed a solid evening, started well and chased the hosts hard, but was unable to prevent Cook getting another heat win.

However, Swindon were holding onto their five-point advantage as guest Kurtz tucked up behind Ellis in third spot.

With three to go Musielak did well to stay on his bike under the pressure of Anderson and Bewley, who both came close to contact with the Polish rider but the opposition claim a damaging 4-2 win, leaving Swindon three points ahead.

Heat 13 saw Bjerre and Morris battle it out at the front, with the former coming out on top. Morris did well to hold off Cook for second, but the Robins were just one point clear.

The penultimate heat was another tie. Tungate did well to slide through the middle of the four, but saw the door firmly shut in his face by Bellego who held on for his first win of the night.

Ellis and Morris were trusted in the final heat as they had both enjoyed a high-scoring evening, but they couldn’t quite do the business, despite battling hard throughout, as a dominant duo of Bjerre and Cook sealed the victory with a rampant 5-1 heat win in front of a passionate home crowd.

Rossiter will now turn his attention to Monday night where the Robins will be searching for redemption against the Poole Pirates in their play-off clash at the Abbey Stadium.