Swindon Robins 54, Oxford Silver Machine 42

Oxford Silver Machine were unable to hold the Robins in the Elite League clash at Blunsdon last night, when the strain of trying to cover for Greg Hancock and Sebastian Ulamek just proved too much.

Oxford never got their noses in front and were eight points down after four heats.

Boss Nigel Wagstaff did his best with tactical rides and reduced the gap to three, only for Swindon to pull away again and put themselves nine in front after nine heats.

More tactical changes reduced the gap to six but to maximum wins in heats12 and 13 sealed the Silver Machine's fate.

Lukas Dryml put in 100 per cent effort to cover for Greg Hancock, scoring 15 of Oxford points, including a superb six-point joker ride in the fifth heat.

However, Swindon always seemed to have something in reserve, giving them an excellent chance of the bonus point in the return leg at Sandy Lane tonight.

The star of the show for Oxford was undoubtedly the young Dane, Niels-Kristian Iversen who gave both sets of fans a thrilling display.

In his tactical ride, he hunted down Andy Smith, nearly getting under him after three laps, before switching to the outside and squeezing between Smith and the fence, coming out of the second bend, to take a fabulous win.

Iversen was then involved in another superb race with David Ruud in heat 14. He was again buzzing all over his opponent, before spotting a gap and going under Ruud entering the third bend of the final lap.

Ruud kept the power on, in an attempt to get back around Iversen, but lost control halfway around the bend and fell

This also allowed Rafal Dobrucki to get second and gain Oxford's only maximum of the night.

It was also a night of bad luck for the Silver Machine, with Dobrucki blowing an engine while leading the second heat.

He was then involved in a nasty looking crash in the eighth heat when Swindon's Olly Allen went for a line up the inside which simply did not exist.

Dobrucki took his place in the rerun but he was clearly affected by the incident and trailed in third.

Allen was not so lucky and was withdrawn from the meeting with concussion. It is unclear whether he will be able to take his place tonight (7.30), when Oxford must win by 13 points to claim that bonus point.

Although Sebastian Ulamek will return, it remains unclear if Greg Hancock as he late fitness test on his injured shoulder. Swindon will be no pushovers and boast a top three of Oxford track specialists in the shape of Leigh Adams, Charlie Gjedde and Steve Johnston.

A large crowd is expected and there are overflow car parking facilities at Unipart available, and all kids will received a free Easter egg on admission.

Swindon: L Adams 15, A Smith 10+1, A Moore 8+2, S Johnston 8+1, C Gjedde 5+2, D Ruud 5+1, O Allen 3.

Oxford: L Dryml 15, N-K Iversen 14, R Dobrucki 5+2, T McGowan 5+2, R Fisher 2+1, J Davidsson 1.

TONIGHT'S PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Oxford: G Hancock, T McGowan, R Fisher, N-K Iversen, S Ulamek, J Davidsson, R Dobrucki.

Swindon: C Gjedde, A Smith, S Johnston, D Ruud, L Adams, A Moore, O Allen HEAT DETAILS

Heat 1: Smith, Dryml, McGowan, Gjedde. 67.68.

Heat 2: Allen, Moore, Davidsson, Dobrucki (ef). 68.40.

Heat 3: Johsnton, Ruud, Iversen, Fisher. 66.86 (rerun).

Heat 4: Adams, McGowan, Dobrucki, Allen. 65.54.

Heat 5: Dryml, Johnston, McGowan, Ruud. 66.05.

Heat 6: Dryml, Gjedde, Smith, Davidsson. 65.96.

Heat 7: Adams, Iversen, Fisher, Moore. 66.14.

Heat 8: Smith, Moore, Dobrucki, McGowan. 67.30 (rerun).

Heat 9: Ruud, Iversen, Johnston, Davidsson. 66.43.

Heat 10: Iversen, Smith, Gjedde, Fisher. 67.36.

Heat 11: Adams, Dryml, McGowan, Moore. 66.49.

Heat 12: Moore, Johnston, Dobrucki, Fisher. 67.56.

Heat 13: Adams, Gjedde, Fisher, Dryml (ex). 66.61 (rerun).

Heat 14: Iversen, Dobrucki, Ruud (f). 67.77.

Heat 15: Adams, Dryml, Smith, Iversen. 66.52