Swindon overcame Peterborough by 50 points to 42, whereas the Bees beat Poole in a more comprehensive fashion, despite Bomber Harris once again not looking to be on his usual pace. The Bees final score was 55 points to 38, and Poole were really a 2 man team with Jason Crump and Bjarne Pedersen the only real threat to the Bees. In fact the 2 Poole riders scored 8 heat wins between them, but the telling factor was the team riding with the Bees packing the points scoring places.
There was an element of controversy in heat 9 where on the 3rd lap Poole's Edward Kennett fell and couldn't get his bike from under the air fence in time. Bomber was riding very hard and chased the other Poole rider Jason Doyle passing him on the exit of the 4th turn just as the referee put on the red stop lights. To the consternation of the Poole team the referee awarded Bomber 2nd place as the pass occured just before they crossed the start line, but with such a winning margin it wasn't to be the pivotal moment.
Leigh Adams was missing from Swindon's team tonight through injury but his replacement Davey Watt more than covered his ppoints scoring, whilst Swindon's possible trump card in the final - their new reserve signing Damian Balinksi - showed just what a talent he is with a 6+1 points return including a heat win.
So next monday the 1st leg of the final takes place at Swindon with the 2nd leg at Brandon the week after.
The final promises to be a very close encounter so watch Sky next week and then get to Brandon the week after to help cheer the Bees along.