RONNIE Russell was left stunned after Swindon surrendered a 13-point lead to lose 49-46 to Coventry in a sensational night of racing at Brandon.

In a night when both teams made use of the tactical rider, the Robins raced into a 21-8 advantage early on as they profited from several Coventry crashes.

But Alun Rossiter’s septet mounted an outrageous comeback and ultimately the exploits of Swindon skipper Leigh Adams in heats 13 and 15 proved crucial, as the Blunsdon outfit salvaged an Elite League point in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

“When we started I thought we had taken up where we left off (against Belle Vue),” said Russell.

“I couldn’t see Coventry coming back, to swing it around like that was incredible.

“The only saving grace is that we came out of it with a point. At least we didn’t throw it away completely and come away with nothing.”

Leigh Adams and Morten Risager were on a 5-1 in the opening heat but Chris Harris overhauled the latter late on, before two heats of carnage ensued.

First Josh Auty fell and was excluded, and in the re-run Przemyslaw Pawlicki fell on the last lap, handing Swindon a thumping 5-0.

In race three, Lewis Bridger came off in a first-bend spill, and though Grzegorz Zengota fell in the re-run, he remounted the bike and completed the race to notch a point.

Incredibly, Swindon found themselves 18-5 up after heat four as the on-fire Simon Stead and Jonasson slammed in a maximum.

Risager became the fourth man to crash in heat five as Adams romped away from the outside gate for the win.

But Coventry mounted an astonishing comeback to take a 26-24 lead three heats later. First tactical man Harris and Ben Barker reduced the advantage by seven and then Krzysztof Kasprzak and Pawlicki also grabbed first and second.

Jonasson took an early lead in eight but Barker and Pawlicki both sped past the Swede in a superb race, to put Coventry in front.

Stead won next but Zengota was forced out at the start of heat 10 and Korneliussen could not make headway on Harris and Barker.

The home side’s lead was extended to 10 points after heat 12 after Kasprzak and then Pawlicki triumphed, but there were still more twists and turns to come.

Tactical rider Adams and Stead were on an 8-1 in heat 13 but Harris reined in the latter early on to restrict the damage.

A thrilling finale was set up after Korneliussen cruised away from Bridger in 13, as Jonasson took an easy third following Pawlicki’s retirement.

Swindon needed a 5-1 to record a second away victory of the campaign, but Harris powered away from the gate and squeezed out Adams to make sure that did not happen.

Coventry boss Rossiter said afterwards: “I’ve never been involved a meeting like that before. The boys dug in deep and I was really chuffed with them. We have just got to adapt to conditions a bit better because I don’t want to go through that again.”