THEY might have a 100 per cent winning record in the Elite League, but Simon Stead says Swindon have still got more in their locker.
The Robins secured a relatively comfortable 50-43 victory over King’s Lynn at the Abbey Stadium last night, in spite of a flawless 15-point maximum from ex-Blunsdon man Mads Korneliussen.
Troy Batchelor was hugely disappointing in the hosts’ number one spot as he could only muster 2+1, but the positives still hugely outweighed the negatives for Swindon.
Stead was one of many who outscored his average, allowing the home side to minimise Korneliussen’s impact and shred the challenge of Lynn’s lower order.
And the Yorkshireman said afterwards: “It was the right result.
“With three wins out of three we’ve got to be happy, and the one point we dropped (against Birmingham) was controversial to say the least.
“But overall, what a great start to the season and the best is yet to come as we’ve got a couple of guys who are misfiring a bit.
“The balance of the side is very good and it’s nice that you can almost carry somebody with the rest of the team riding so well.
“There’s no reason why we can’t be a match for anybody home or away.”
Meanwhile, Robins boss Alun Rossiter backed Batchelor after the Aussie’s off-colour display.
“It’s a few problems with the bike, things haven’t gone his way with engines and it’s getting on top of him a little bit,” said Rossiter. “But I’m sure he’ll get it right in front of the cameras against Coventry on Monday.
The boss added: “We were very consistent the whole way through. Doyley is still not 100 per cent but once he gets more dialled in he’ll bang in the points shortly.
“I thought the scoreline even a bit unjust, but I suppose if you look at Troy’s points that would have been the difference.”
Niels Kristian Iversen and Daniel Nermark got the Stars off and running as they benefited from a slow start from Batchelor, but Swindon bit back immediately with a 4-2 of their own, Peter Kildemand hauling in David Howe with ease after the visiting rider jumped out first at the start.
Korneliussen won his first race next as the honours were shared, only for another Swindon old boy, Maciej Janowski, to limp to third against maximum-getters Kildemand and Hans Andersen.
Nermark pulled out an unexpected stormer in heat five leaving Simon Stead and Iversen trailing in his wake, only for the hosts to grab a 4-2 straight back, as Janowski just failed to overhaul Nick Morris late on.
A ripping ride from Korneliussen gave King’s Lynn a 3-3 draw as Andersen trailed, and Rob Lyon’s men were a creditable 23-19 down after seven heats.
Howe then crashed on a slippy bend two, and his exclusion helped Swindon gain a 5-1 maximum on the re-run courtesy of Morris and Kildemand.
A further 4-2 from the Robins in heat nine prompted team boss Rob Lyon to bring out the tactical ride, and Korneliussen did not let his manager down as he led from the gate with his third brilliant heat of the night, bringing the Stars to within seven.
However, that was as good as it was to get for the visitors.
They were unlucky in heat 11 when Iversen locked up and Nermark crashed with no one near him, although Korneliussen then continued his one-man mission with another win.
The points were shared in heat 13 before an out-of-sorts Kevin Wolbert and Howe were on the receiving end of a 5-1 from Jason Doyle and Kildemand in the penultimate race.
Although Lynn bagged their first maximum of the evening in the final showdown – strangely without Korneliussen – it was not enough.
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