AS the riders crossed the finishing line in heat 10 of last night's Craven Shield tie at Eastbourne, the scorecard made miserable reading for Robins boss Alun Rossiter.

His side were 18 points behind the Eagles and appeared to be making a miserable start to the new campaign.

However, Rosco refused to push the panic button, instead putting faith in his new-look side to turn things round.

And with the help of skipper Leigh Adams' 11th-heat tactical ride, they did just that, clawing back the deficit to an achievable 11 points ahead of Thursday's return fixture at Blunsdon.

Eastbourne recorded four 5-1's in the first 10 heats, but Swindon won two and drew two of the final five heats to leave Rossiter a very happy man after the meeting.

"They (Eastbourne) will be very, very good later on in the year and there's not many team who will run them as close on their own patch as we did," he admitted.

"We got better as it went along and there were a lot of encouraging signs to come out of it.

"They were away early on and we made a few mistakes early on which set us back, but we did fantastically well to come back.

"It just shows the character of the team, and that's what we've been trying to instil in the side.

"We've brought in players with that sort of attitude and kept the lads who have that character.

"Theo wasn't having a great time out there and I didn't want to drop him, but I had to do what was best for the team, and that's the mentality we'll have this season."

As Rossiter praised his the efforts of his team, no-one epitomised their fightback more than Mads Korneliussen.

The Dane failed to trouble the scorers in his first two races, but came storming back to record two runners-up spots and then a third-placed finish in heat 15, seeing off the challenge of former Robin Lee Richardson.

Rossiter said: "Leigh Adams was his consistent self, as we expect of him, and he put in a fantastic performance.

"Seb Alden and Mads Korneliussen were bright lights out there, especially Mads.

"He didn't have a great start and got caught out a few places, but he started going well at about heat eight and fully deserved his call-up to heat 15, where he got the better of Richardson.

"James Wright showed some signs of what he can do, but it is early days and to come away only 11 points down is really pleasing for everyone."

EASTBOURNE EAGLES 52: Scott Nicholls (1*-3-3-FX-3) 10+1; Lewis Bridger (2-2*-3-0) 7+1; Lee Richardson (3-1*-3-3-0) 10+1; Cameron Woodward (2*-2-2*-3) 9+2; Edward Kennett (3-3-1-2) 9; Simon Gustafsson (3-2*-0-1) 6+1; James Brundle (R-1-0-0) 1. SWINDON ROBINS 41: Leigh Adams (3-3-6-3-2) 17; Mads Korneliussen (0-0-2-2*-1*) 5+2; Troy Batchelor (R-1-2-2) 5; James Wright (1-0-1*-0) 2+1; Travis McGowan (2-1-1-1) 5; Theo Pijper (1*-0-0) 1+1; Sebastian Alden (2-FX-1*-1*-2) 6+2

HEAT DETAILS

Heat 1: Adams, Bridger, Nicholls, Korneliussen 57.4 3-3 (3-3); Heat 2: Gustafsson, Alden, Pijper, Brundle (rtd) 59.0 (6-6); Heat 3: Richardson, Woodward, Wright, Batchelor (rtd) 58.2 (11-7); Heat 4: Kennet, McGowan, Brundle, Alden (f.exc) (15-9); Heat 5: Adams, Woodward, Richardson, Korneliussen 56.8 (18-12); Heat 6: Nicholls, Bridger, McGowan, Pijper 57.5 (23-13); Heat 7: Kennet, Gustafsson, Batchelor, Wright 58.5 (28-14); Heat 8: Bridger, Korneliussen, Alden, Brundle 58.6 (31-17); Heat 9: Richardson, Woodward, McGowan, Pijper 58.9 (36-18); Heat 10: Nicholls, Bachelor, Wright, Bridger 57.8 (39-21); Heat 11: Adams (tac ride), Korneliussen, Kennet, Gustafsson 58.2 (40-29); Heat 12: Richardson, Batchelor, Alden, Brundle 58.6 (43-32); Heat 13 (rerun): Adams, Kennet, McGowan, Nicholls (f.exc) 57.3 (45-36); Heat 14: Woodward, Alden, Gustafsson, Wright 57.9 (49-38); Heat 15: Nicholls, Adams, Korneliussen, Richardson 57.6 (52-41).