LEICESTER suffered a cruel late defeat - as well as picking up further injury headaches - as Swindon stole a 46-45 verdict at Beaumont Park on Monday.
Recent signings Kyle Newman and Pawel Przedpelski both crashed out of the meeting but the four-man Watling JCB Lions – already without Josh Bates due to a shoulder problem – looked set to still pull off a win against all the odds.
Reserves Lasse Bjerre and Erik Riss both gave outstanding displays from seven-ride shifts as boss Jim Lynch juggled his resources throughout the meeting.
But the Robins had the last laugh as they bagged three 5-1s in the last four races to overturn an eleven-point deficit, with their own newcomer Tobiasz Musielak very much the hero.
Newman’s accident came on the first bend of Heat 1, and although he took his place in the re-run he was unable to continue thereafter due to an arm injury.
However, Bjerre was involved in two early 5-1s and with Przedpelski showing he had the circuit weighed up with an impressive Heat 5 triumph over Troy Batchelor, the home side looked well-placed.
Riss and Bjerre combined for maximum points in Heat 8 to put the Lions ten points up, before the next race was stopped with Swindon on a 5-1 when Adam Ellis fell on the fourth bend.
The roles were reversed in the re-run with Riss and Przedpelski out-front for the Lions, but with both going wide Przedpelski suddenly reared and crashed into the fence at high speed.
Riss was disqualified, a decision which left the Lions a rider short in a later race as the reserves both took their full quotas, whilst Przedpelski was taken away by ambulance suffering from ankle injuries – but the hosts rallied once more and still led 39-28 after Heat 11, Kim Nilsson having seen off a tactical ride from Musielak in the tenth race.
Swindon notched a 5-1 in Heat 12 with Bjerre coming to grief on the second lap in a tight battle with Musielak, and the pressure increased in the next as Batchelor hit the front and Nick Morris made it between Nilsson and Danny King on the first lap.
Riss protected the Lions’ three-point lead by holding off a strong challenge from David Bellego throughout Heat 14, leaving Leicester 44-41 up going into the decider.
But King was left to ride solo after Nilsson was adjudged the cause of a first-bend crash with Batchelor, who was replaced by Morris as the Australian was unable to take his place in the re-run.
And initially it looked like the Lions would be celebrating as King produced a strong first lap to cut under Morris off turn four and take the lead – only for Morris to hit back on the second lap.
Musielak then regained ground and moved inside King on the back straight of the last lap, and the final twist to the meeting came when King’s attempted re-pass on the final bend ended with him clipping the fence, leaving the Lions devastated and a single point adrift.
Boss Jim Lynch said: “We knew as soon as Kyle had dropped out in his first ride that we were going to be in trouble, and then it’s a jigsaw puzzle.
“Then we just seemed to get decisions that went against us, and I think the word ‘unlucky’ really doesn’t get there for us with what’s happened.
“I don’t think we had a decision go our way, and we deserved the win. The reserves showed exactly what they can do, and it’s great to have that strength.
“As far as I’m concerned we did our jobs and it was a great meeting, but we really wanted those three points to get back on track.”
Lynch will now be awaiting various injury updates ahead of Lions’ next fixture, which is back at Beaumont Park against King’s Lynn on Monday July 24.
LEICESTER 45: Lasse Bjerre 14+2, Erik Riss 14, Danny King 7+2, Kim Nilsson 7, Pawel Przedpelski 3, Kyle Newman 0, Josh Bates R/R.
SWINDON 46: Tobiasz Musielak 15+1, Nick Morris 10+1, Troy Batchelor 10, David Bellego 5+2, Zach Wajtknecht 3+2, Bradley Wilson-Dean 2, Adam Ellis 1.
