Wolves 42 Swindon 47: Speedway final heartache for hosts - report and pictures
Wolves suffered last-gasp heartache as they surrendered their top-flight speedway title.
They went down 47-42 at home to Swindon on Wednesday night, losing 90-89 on aggregate.
It all came down to the very last heat, the Robins leading overall by a single point going into it.
Wolves needed a heat advantage – and that always looked a tall order against unbeaten world champion elect Jason Doyle.
Sam Masters hit the shale after tangling with Nick Morris on the first bend, but referee Chris Durno – surely correctly – ruled all four back.
And in the rerun, although Masters brilliantly cut his way past the two Robins, they packed in for the minor placings ahead of Rory Schlein – and that was enough.
Earlier, Wolves had just about managed to keep their heads above water. But the visitors looked ominously poised and struck with three heats to go.
A last-bend heat 13 surge by Morris, who passed Masters to join Doyle for a vital 5-1, put the Robins ahead on aggregate. Schlein and Nathan Greaves briefly threatened a maximum of their own in the next, but the young reserve was overhauled by David Bellego and Bradley Wilson-Dean.
And Swindon then applied the coup de grace.
The defending champions had put on an awesome performance to win by four points at Blunsdon in the first leg of the Premiership Grand Final.
But the lingering fear was that the absence of injured Swedes Freddie Lindgren and Jacob Thorssell would be more keenly felt in the return.
And so it proved, with the normally reliable guest Chris Harris enduring an uncharacteristic poor night.
Stand-in skipper Schlein had asked the fans to be the team's seventh man – and they responded with a big cheer as early as the pre-match track walk.
But Wolves needed to do their talking on the circuit, especially after conceding a shock first heat 5-1 when Doyle and Adam Ellis jetted from the tapes to leave Harris trailing and level the tie on aggregate.
Reserve pairing Greaves and Mark Riss settled the nerves with a 4-2 in the next.
Schlein produced a captain's ride in heat three, slicing his way past Bradley Wilson-Dean and David Bellego off the pits bend to join Kyle Howarth at the front and put Wolves ahead on the night.
But back came Swindon to level the scores on the night after eight races, thanks in part to Masters pulling up in the fifth after spotting an errant red light, thought to be from a camera.
The racing was tight and tension nigh unbearable, not least in heat 11 when Riss and Ellis both fell and were both disqualified, Doyle's victory over Masters in the subsequent match race cutting Wolves' overall lead to three points. But it was Swindon who emerged triumphant.
Wolves: Sam Masters 12, Rory Schlein 10+2, Kyle Howarth 8, Nathan Greaves 7, Chris Harris 4+2, Mark Riss 1, Jacob Thorssell rider-replacement.
Swindon: Jason Doyle 13+1, Nick Morris 11+1, David Bellego 4+1, Tobiasz Musielak 8, Adam Ellis 6+1, Bradley Wilson-Dean 5+2, Liam Carr 0.
