Wolves’ title bid is ended

Parrys International Wolves were well beaten 58-32 at Swindon, resulting in heavy a 107-71 aggregate defeat.

A rain-affected first leg at Monmore on Wednesday put Peter Adams’ side on the back foot as they slipped to a shock 10-point home defeat – and their quest to claw back that deficit got off to a disastrous start at The Abbey Stadium.

They were dominated away from the starts by their opponents early doors and consequently saw the aggregate gap increase to 22 after conceding three 5-1s in the opening four races.

Wolves finally got going after the first track grading break as Kyle Howarth and Sam Masters hit the front to sit on a 5-1 of their own.

But their maximum joy was short lived as dashing Dane Rasmus Jensen, whose mid-season arrival in Wiltshire provided the Robins with extra middle order strength, charged under the Wolves pairing down the back straight.

Swindon then added another maximum to their tally in heat six before Nick Morris crashed out of heat seven on another nightmare running against his former employers. Race winners and heat advantages came along like London buses for the visitors though.

First, Howarth ended the hosts’ sequence of chequered flag takers as he got the better of the previously unbeaten Adam Ellis, while Luke Becker held off reserve counterpart Claus Vissing for third.

And another 4-2 shortly followed in a keenly contested ninth race with Thorssell and Ryan Douglas riding determinedly, only to be separated by another smart Jensen move.

Swindon booked their place in the Grand Final against Ipswich in the next race as 2017 world champion Jason Doyle and Ellis combined for their third 5-1 of the night – and that was the first of three further maximums in the space of four races as the Robins continued their rout.

Howarth again reminded everyone of his capabilities in heat 15 with an excellent gate from the outside to provide just a third heat winner of the night for the visitors as they were left pondering what could have been in a season that had held so much promise in the final third.

Team boss Peter Adams said: “We have absolutely no excuses and no complaints.

“They were the much better team over both legs, particularly here at Swindon though, and we couldn’t keep pace with them.

“That’s pace from the start and they had a lot more straight line speed from us - they’re used to the lines around here and they rode very well and all the best to them in the final.”

SWINDON: Troy Batchelor 13+1, Jason Doyle 12, Rasmus Jensen 10+1, Adam Ellis 9+4, Claus Vissing 7+2, Tobiasz Musielak 6, Ellis Perks 1.

WOLVERHAMPTON: Kyle Howarth 10+1, Jacob Thorssell 6, Rory Schlein 5, Ryan Douglas 5, Luke Becker 3+2, Sam Masters 3+1, Nick Morris 0.