LEIGH Adams gave World Championship favourite Jason Crump a run for his money at Blunsdon last night but victorious Swindon manager Alan Rossiter was left fuming at some diabolical' refereeing decisions.

On a night filled with bizarre refereeing decisions and a record four sub-64 second race wins, the match hinged on the personal battle between Adams and Crump.

World Championship leader Crump top scored with 16 points but an 11-point return for Adams, including a 2-1 win going head-to-head with Crump, was enough to secure Swindon a thrilling 51-42 win over the league leaders.

Lee Richardson returned to a semblance of his old self, scoring eight points, while Seb Alden, 10 points, and Adrian Miedzinski, six points, also played their part.

Team manager Alun Rossiter was delighted with the display but was left nonplussed by the decision not to re-run heat one after the tapes failed to work.

He said: "It was a good all-round performance but I have to say there were some diabolical refereeing decisions. How he didn't see the tapes didn't work I will never know.

"The difference between tonight and our defeat to Oxford was Lee Richardson. We should have beaten them and would have done had he even scored seven points.

"He looked more like his old self tonight though and hopefully we can move on from here."

The meeting started in controversial circumstances as the tapes failed to go up properly on the inside gates, with referee Frank Ebdon not calling a re-start to the re-run heat one.

Seb Alden, replacement for the excluded Mads Korneliussen, took full advantage from gate four, winning the heat ahead of Belle Vue's Kenneth Bjerre and Joe Screen.

Swindon's Leigh Adams was suitably unimpressed being forced to retire from gate two and returning to the starting gate to remonstrate with Ebdon.

It got better for the hosts in heat two as Richie Hawkins, a replacement for the injured Renat Gafurov, stormed to maximum points, with Alden picking up another point in third.

Jason Crump fired a warning shot that the hosts would not have it all their own way in heat four, taking victory and shattering Adams' track record, with Lee Richardson and Hawkins a long way off in second and third respectively.

Bjerre instantly secured the league leaders their second race win of the night but, with Ulamek and Hawkins taking the minor places, Swindon retained their healthy six-point lead.

World Championship leader Crump continued to sparkle, beating Adams into second in heat six in the eagerly-awaited battle of the titans, but Swindon emphasised their dominance with Richardson and Korneliussen taking race wins in the next two, stretching their lead to 29-19.

A timely Belle Vue joker card changed the complexion of the evening, with Crump taking a tactical ride and scoring six points for the win, after some hard riding forced early leader Miedzinski into the fence, and Phil Morris took second as Swindon lost their first heat of the night.

A Leigh Adams' win in heat 10 and a third place for Korneliussen extended Swindon's lead to 34-29 but this was closed to three points with Bjerre picking up his second win of the night and Alden only able to split the Aces pairing.

Again referee Ebdon surprised the crowd by allowing the result to stand after Richardson touched the tape.

Adams finally gained revenge on the lightning quick Crump in heat 13, taking first place from the inside gate with Crump second and Richardson third in another sub 65 seconds victory.

Swindon confirmed the win in the penultimate heat of the night with Alden taking victory and Ulamek finishing in third, giving the hosts an unassailable 47-40 lead.

Adams redressed the balance over Crump in heat 15, beating him into second place again, winning their personal battle 2-2, and with Richardson finishing third it secured a 51-42 win but will the nine point advantage be enough in the return at Belle Vue?

Heat details

SWINDON ROBINS 51

Leigh Adams (0, 2, 3, 3, 3) 11

Mads Korneliussen (Ex,1*,3,1) 5+1

Adrian Miedzinski (3, 1*, 0, 2) 6+1

Seb Ulamek (2*, 2, 1, 1) 6+1

Lee Richardson (2, 3, 0, 1, 1) 7

Seb Alden (3, 1, 1, 2, 3) 10

Ritchie Hawkins (3, 1*, 1, 1*) 6+2

BELLE VUE 42

Kenneth Bjerre (1*, 3, 3, 0, 0) 7+1

Joe Screen (2, 0, 2, 1) 5

Simon Stead (Ex, 2, 2, 3) 7

James Wright (1, 0, 0, 2) 3

Jason Crump (3, 3, 6, 2, 2) 16

Phil Morris (0, 0, 2*, 0) 2+1

Tom P. Madsen (2, 0, 0, 0) 2

  • Heat 1: Alden, Screen, Bjerre, Adams 3-3 65.59
  • Heat 2: Hawkins, Madsen, Alden, Morris 7-5 66.63
  • Heat 3: Miedzinski, Ulamek, Wright, Stead(F/EX) 12-6 no time
  • Heat 4: Crump, Richardson, Hawkins, Madsen 15-9 64.27 (NEW TR)
  • Heat 5: Bjerre, Ulamek, Miedzinski, Screen 18-12 65.47
  • Heat 6: Crump, Adams, Korneliussen, Morris 21-15 64.54
  • Heat 7: Richardson, Stead, Hawkins, Wright 25-17 66.74
  • Heat 8: Korneliussen, Screen, Alden, Madsen 29-19 65.55
  • Heat 9: Crump(TR), Morris, Ulamek, Miedzinski 30-27 67.19
  • Heat 10: Adams, Stead, Korneliussen, Wright 34-29 65.84
  • Heat 11: Bjerre, Alden, Screen, Richardson 36-33 67.07
  • Heat 12: Stead, Miedzinski, Hawkins, Morris 39-36 66.08
  • Heat 13: Adams, Crump, Richardson, Bjerre 43-38 64.68
  • Heat 14: Alden, Wright, Ulamek, Madsen 47-40 66.70
  • Heat 15: Adams, Crump, Richardson, Bjerre 51-43 64.91