Four points clear and in good shape (From Swindon Advertiser)

Four points clear and in good shape

11:00am Saturday 4th July 2009 in Track Side

Swindon’s convincing win over Ipswich at the Abbey Stadium on Thursday evening brought to an end another superb week.

The victory was our eighth league win in a row, and saw our lead at the head of the Elite League table extended to four points over nearest contenders Wolverhampton.

Monday’s meeting at Eastbourne in front of the Sky cameras saw Swindon claim a 10-point victory over our hosts, with Leigh Adams, Matej Zagar, Travis McGowan and Ryan Fisher all contributing paid double figure scores.

Once again it was our Slovenian superstar Matej who everyone was talking about after the meeting, with his duel with Lewis Bridger in heat 15 being particularly spectacular.

Thursday’s meeting with Ipswich was much more routine, and saw our lead at the head of affairs grow after Wolves had gone down to a surprising defeat at Poole the night before.

Adams was imperious in scoring a four-ride paid maximum, and he received superb support from Zagar and Stead once again, both of whom carded scores of paid 14.

Away from the heat leaders, it was great to see young Australians Justin Sedgmen and Cory Gathercole making the most of their night together at reserve.

Justin scored his first Elite League point in heat two having had the pleasure of riding with Leigh in the opener, while Cory totted up another bumper pay day himself despite a nasty-looking spill in heat four.

Next week Swindon face an intriguing clash at Belle Vue on Monday night, before Lakeside roll into town for our last meeting before the World Cup break on Thursday.

This should at least give the management some time to consider Jurica Pavlic’s future, as his absence from the team has definitely left them with a tricky problem to resolve.

Talking of the world stage, last weekend saw fans flock from all parts of the globe to cheer on their heroes in the British Grand Prix at Cardiff.

Leigh had a night to forget, while his compatriot Jason Crump raced to a perfect seven-ride maximum in winning the final, hotly pursued by Wolves’ Freddie Lindgren and new Poole number one Hans Andersen.

As ever it was a weekend to savour off the track as much as on it, with the streets and bars of the Welsh capital absolutely packed with speedway supporters.

Up the Robins!