A TIMELY maximum in the penultimate heat of the evening provided Swindon Robins with a consolation Supporters’ Cup point at Foxhall Stadium against Ipswich Witches tonight.

Adam Ellis and Jason Doyle partnered to register Swindon’s only maximum of the evening in heat 14 - and ensure they left Suffolk with a hard-earned point to their name.

Pole Tobiasz Musielak and Aussie Troy Batchelor had the task of securing the consolation point by drawing the final race – and they did just that as Musielak bravely took the heat’s initiative following a tight second turn as the hosts won 48-42.

But the meeting was dictated by home reserve Jake Allen, who registered a match-winning 16 points from seven rides – which helped to inflict the Robins’ first Supporters’ Cup loss of the season.

Alun Rossiter’s side still top the Southern Group, but their lead has been cut to three points with two meetings left to race – King’s Lynn and Poole still have four meetings to race and trail the Robins by six and seven points respectively.

Tonight's meeting could have gone disastrously for the Abbey Stadium outfit – at one point it looked as though the four-hour drive from Wiltshire was all in vain.

The meeting’s opening nine heats were epitomised by Rossiter’s side in the opening race, as the Witches were gifted a 3-3.

After gating on a 5-1, Doyle stormed to a routine tapes to flag victory. But Lampart – foolishly using the same setup required for the 320m Abbey Stadium track – alarmingly slipped from second to fourth.

It quickly became clear why that occurred after the first chequered flag fell.

Rossiter’s reserves will give fans cause for concern.

Zach Wajtknecht lacked speed all evening, and failed to score from his three rides. His teammate James Shanes beat one opponent and had to work hard for his 2+1 from three rides.

The Dorset-based racer is however nursing a nasty hand injury, where he has torn ligaments in his left hand just underneath his thumb.

Vibrations from the bike did little to help the former Poole man – but he after the meeting vowed to line-up fit against King’s Lynn on Monday following a weekend of rest.

Scoring between the top three followed the trend from the Robins’ previous three meetings.

Skipper Doyle weighed in with 13+1 and was only beaten by the inspired Jake Allen in a blockbuster heat 11. The former world champion proved lightning does not strike twice by storming to victory over his Australian compatriot two heats later.

Musielak scored 10 while Batchelor registered nine – a ruthless move by Witches’ Piezczek in heat nine did little to help the Australian’s cause before he ran a last in the concluding race.

Adam Ellis’ six points proved key in the visitors taking the destiny of the meeting’s points down to the final heat.

Robins boss Alun Rossiter said a heavy track favoured the home team in the early stages.

But once the track settled, his Robins were able to fight back and poach a pleasing point.

He said: “With the rain they had early on it did make things tricky, we took a while to adapt to the track because of the heavy clay content.

“Once you got on the line and around the first corner it was difficult to pass. If you went wide and hit the dirt, then away you went.

“If it had been a bit slicker the racing would’ve been better. But in fairness Ipswich had a lot of rain up until 1pm, so we’ve got no complaints about the track.

“Adam (Ellis) picked up an important race win in heat 14 – Tobiasz (Musielak), Troy (Batchelor) and Jason (Doyle) were their usual selves.

“I thought Dawid Lampart showed some good signs. He made a mistake in the first race and has his Swindon gear on instead of the Ipswich setup – he had five teeth too little.

“He got better with each race – his two points were important.

“The reserves are a bit of a worry. James (Shanes) is having a go, but Zach (Wajknecht) seems to be struggling at the moment.

“Hopefully we can get him going.”

Swindon are next in action on Monday night when travelling to King’s Lynn for their fifth Supporters’ Cup meeting.