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Premiership Playoff Final 2nd Leg - Swindon v Ipswich - 17/10

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2 hours ago, EnglishRoundabout said:

A bit late to the party but wanted to add some observations to my first visit to Blunsdon for a while due to moving from the area and work commitments. 

I make no apology for the self indulgent post either! 

Thursday was my first ever experience of the Robins winning a trophy on home soil. It was tremendous. I saw a group of grown men dancing together, plastic cups of lager spilling as they danced their Dad dances in a circle. The atmosphere was terrific. Chanting at speedway?  Never have I heard that before. Jeff Beck’s Hi ho Silver Lining was belted out several times. Another group of young lads (teenagers this time) all singing together, laughing and smiling)

 Before the meeting began, dark clouds circled overhead, looking menacing and threatening.  Worryingly , one massive cloud began to empty its cargo. At the time, I was stood inside having a cheeky beer. I watched as the home straight crowd staring anxiously at the sky. Fortunately, the clouds passed over and although the track looked wet, it certainly looked raceable.

I watched the first 3 heats from the grass bank entering turn 3: I must admit, I felt nervous as Ipswich edged ahead. Even after The Iversen exclusion.  They looked sharp from the starts, and Chris Harris ( for the first two laps in heat 3) looked hungry and committed. 

But then I witnessed an absolute steam roller of a side. Jensen was aggressive and fast Musielak, smooth and slick. Doyle was as expected. He’s a terrific leader and a real winner. Batchelor ( who I have criticised many times, mainly for when he opens his mouth) really does look high class these days. His pass of Doyle in heat 13, ( yes it was a pass too rather than any kind of team riding between the two) was superb. 

Ipswich were simply annihilated. Jake Allen gave a gutsy performance, but tired after Hawkins threw him into as many early races as he could in an attempt to contain the rampant Robins. 

This was the best Swindon team I have ever seen. And, in my opinion would beat any of the other 3 championship winning teams. 

There seemed genuine affection for the team from the packed crowd, and a pleasing team spirit. I liked the blend of orange/tangerine, ( I’ve never seen so many reflective orange highway maintenance jackets worn by supporters!!)

Finally, I’ve supported the Robins from the days of Martin Ashby, Killer, Bouchard and Jan Andersson. I would have given anything for one of the mid seventies Robins teams to win the league, or even win an away match! I followed them everywhere on the coach, only to see them get a hammering at places like Cradley, Halifax and Wimbledon. The Blunsdon track in those days was excellent. Always passing, always good racing. These days, I like the shorter version. Huge compliment to the track staff who have worked wonders with it. 

In order to get a quick get away to travel back to my home in Cornwall, I left straight after heat 15. As I reached my car in the car park, I heard another rendition of Hi ho silver lining (Hi ho Swindon Robins!,) I sat in the drivers seat and caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror.......I was absolutely beaming!!!

As I reached the M4, it was pouring with rain..  But the sun was shining on another triumphant season for a super speedway team. 

Marvellous post ER hope things are going great in Cornwall

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14 hours ago, EnglishRoundabout said:

A bit late to the party but wanted to add some observations to my first visit to Blunsdon for a while due to moving from the area and work commitments. 

I make no apology for the self indulgent post either! 

Thursday was my first ever experience of the Robins winning a trophy on home soil. It was tremendous. I saw a group of grown men dancing together, plastic cups of lager spilling as they danced their Dad dances in a circle. The atmosphere was terrific. Chanting at speedway?  Never have I heard that before. Jeff Beck’s Hi ho Silver Lining was belted out several times. Another group of young lads (teenagers this time) all singing together, laughing and smiling)

 Before the meeting began, dark clouds circled overhead, looking menacing and threatening.  Worryingly , one massive cloud began to empty its cargo. At the time, I was stood inside having a cheeky beer. I watched as the home straight crowd staring anxiously at the sky. Fortunately, the clouds passed over and although the track looked wet, it certainly looked raceable.

I watched the first 3 heats from the grass bank entering turn 3: I must admit, I felt nervous as Ipswich edged ahead. Even after The Iversen exclusion.  They looked sharp from the starts, and Chris Harris ( for the first two laps in heat 3) looked hungry and committed. 

But then I witnessed an absolute steam roller of a side. Jensen was aggressive and fast Musielak, smooth and slick. Doyle was as expected. He’s a terrific leader and a real winner. Batchelor ( who I have criticised many times, mainly for when he opens his mouth) really does look high class these days. His pass of Doyle in heat 13, ( yes it was a pass too rather than any kind of team riding between the two) was superb. 

Ipswich were simply annihilated. Jake Allen gave a gutsy performance, but tired after Hawkins threw him into as many early races as he could in an attempt to contain the rampant Robins. 

This was the best Swindon team I have ever seen. And, in my opinion would beat any of the other 3 championship winning teams. 

There seemed genuine affection for the team from the packed crowd, and a pleasing team spirit. I liked the blend of orange/tangerine, ( I’ve never seen so many reflective orange highway maintenance jackets worn by supporters!!)

Finally, I’ve supported the Robins from the days of Martin Ashby, Killer, Bouchard and Jan Andersson. I would have given anything for one of the mid seventies Robins teams to win the league, or even win an away match! I followed them everywhere on the coach, only to see them get a hammering at places like Cradley, Halifax and Wimbledon. The Blunsdon track in those days was excellent. Always passing, always good racing. These days, I like the shorter version. Huge compliment to the track staff who have worked wonders with it. 

In order to get a quick get away to travel back to my home in Cornwall, I left straight after heat 15. As I reached my car in the car park, I heard another rendition of Hi ho silver lining (Hi ho Swindon Robins!,) I sat in the drivers seat and caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror.......I was absolutely beaming!!!

As I reached the M4, it was pouring with rain..  But the sun was shining on another triumphant season for a super speedway team. 

Excellent post. One of the things I missed living in Cornwall, a night at the Abbey. The pinnacle of The Robins proud 70 year history. Grown, shirtless men singing and dancing.

Edited by auntie doris

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Ellis Perks is now a Premiership, Championship and as good as a National League winner all in the one season, not many riders if any have done that in the one season. 

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