SWINDON Robins will have to overturn an eight-point deficit at the Abbey Stadium next week if they are to hold the SGB Premiership Supporters’ Cup aloft following a 49-41 defeat to Belle Vue Aces on Thursday night.

While the first part of the meeting remained very close, the Aces’ Jaimon Lidsey and Dan Bewley put in superb performances late on to push the lead beyond the Robins’s reach and give themselves a handy cushion for next Thursday’s second leg.

The first five heats of the night followed an identical pattern that went as followed: Swindon rider hits the front, a Robin wins the race, tied heat.

Nevertheless, there was no lack of racing action for the significant number of Robins fans that had travelled to get their teeth into early on.

After Doyle held off the attentions of opposite number Max Fricke and Steve Worrall in the first, Claus Vissing and Ellis Perks held a 4-2 in the second until Perks packed up with 50 meters to go, costing Alun Rossiter’s side an ideal start to the night.

In the third, Tobiasz Musielak made the start and stayed there under real pressure from Lidsey.

There was a real battle for third, though.

Jensen tried everything to pass Jye Etheridge, but the Aces reserve defended resolutely enough to hold on for a point.

The fourth and fifth heats were carbon copies of each other with Vissing briefly involved in battle with Dimitri Berge for third in heat four, diving down the inside on turn three-four before being relegated to the back later on in the following lap.

Doyle took a comfortable heat win in the fifth before the deadlock was finally broken in heat six.

Fricke and Troy Batchelor hit the front at the same time, but the Aces skipper just about got the better drive out of the second turn and hit the front and take the heat win.

Perks held third early on, but Worrall came through with a hard move to push the Robins reserve to the back.

The Robins landed a huge 5-1 in an eventful heat seven, but the Aces fans were extremely unhappy that the race was not brought back due to early movement from Musielak, and rightly so.

The Pole clearly twitched at the start, but it was left to play out naturally and the Musielak went on to join Jensen at the front.

The Robins pair tried to team ride for a couple of laps, but it nearly did more harm than good as Musielak almost crashed into the back of Jensen before Jensen pushed on to take the race in single file.

After Adam Ellis showed great speed to notch a heat victory in the tenth edition, an awful start from both Robins in heat nine handed the overall lead back to the home side.

Batchelor and Perks were both left stranded at the start, and the exciting pair of Lidsey and Dan Bewley streaked away for an easy 5-1.

Belle Vue extended their lead further in the following heat despite Musielak hitting the front first.

However, Musielak drifted a little wide and Worrall picked his pocket for first.

Meanwhile, the Pole was then forced to hang on for second under real pressure from Fricke while Rasmus Jensen was unable to find enough speed to catch the pack ahead.

Bewley won heat 11 at an absolute canter with Ellis and Doyle slotting in for the minor point places as the deficit remained at four points with four heats remaining.

A beautiful move from Lidsey helped him take the heat win in 12 while Musielak used every inch of the National Speedway Stadium surface to hold off Fricke at the back.

The Swindon man then did a wheelie celebration in front of the travelling fans, proving he knew just how important it might be to take a point in that one.

Lidsey then played his part in pushing the Aces further and further ahead near the culmination of the first leg.

The Australian claimed the win in heat 12 before partnering Bewley to a result-deciding 5-1 in the 13th - which extended the hosts’ lead to eight points.

Robins skipper Jason Doyle was controversially disqualified from the heat 13 after being adjudged to have moved early at the start, leaving Rasmus Jensen and Ellis Perks to suffer at the back.

Batchelor held the lead for three quarters of that race, but after motoring around the outside at the start, the outside line did not work as well later on as Bewley cut down the inside to snatch the win and push the Aces’ lead to 10 points with only one heat to go.

In the last, Doyle made a fast start and used the dirt on the first bend to rocket around the outside and take the win while Musielak and Fricke battled it out for second.

Swindon’s Polish rider could not quite clamp down on the inside to hold off Fricke and the Robins were left with a small hill to climb in Wiltshire next week.