King's Lynn Stars' fading chance of making the Elite League play-offs took a further blow last night as they fell to a heavy 56-37 defeat away at champions Swindon.

The rampant Robins provided the heat winner of the first seven races, and even though the Stars first success was a tactical win for Lasse Bjerre in heat eight it was nowhere near enough for the patched up Norfolk side.

Rider replacement for injury victim Rory Schlein only accounted for five points, and when home skipper Hans Andersen intentionally allowed Mads Korneliussen through on the line in heat 10 he ensured the Stars' last chance to bite back was wiped out with them not far enough behind to use their second tactical.

Andersen's night got off to a comical start as he ended up on his backside while approaching the tapes for heat one, but when they eventually went up he made the gate and held off Niels-Kristian Iversen to take the victory.

Kyle Howarth produced a good move to pass Kozza Smith going into bend three to win the second heat of the night, before Peter Kildemand and Nick Morris combined for what has become the Robins' customary 5-1 in heat three with Richie Worrall in third.

Troy Batchelor ensured the Robins won all of the opening four heats as he passed Lasse Bjerre despite the Dane leading through turn two, but Smith tucked in behind his teammate to limit the damage as much as possible.

It looked as though the Stars were going to record their first victory after the first track grading before a stunning move saw Kildemand round Iversen in the first two turns, and after Morris eventually joined him for the maximum a second soon followed after Andersen did a good job of shielding Edward Kennett after two good starts.

Howarth rode very wide behind Batchelor to keep Worrall at bay for another maximum as Korneliussen packed up, before Bjerre went out in black and white for the Stars to try and rescue some pride. The young Dane managed his side's first heat win with a hard first corner move and was backed up by Smith for an 8-1, which cut the deficit to 11 points.

Iversen repeated the trick with success in a shared ninth race with a stylish victory over a rampant Kildemand, but when Andersen let Korneliussen through in the final corner of heat 10 Stars skipper Iversen was denied the chance of using the second tactical ride with the deficit only 11.

Iversen duly won but wasn't able to double his points, and with the Robins pair in second and third the chance of using a second tactical ride was gone, and with it the chance of even a point.

ROBINS (number of rides): Hans Andersen 8+2 (4); Edward Kennett 6+1(4); Peter Kildemand 11 (5); Nick Morris 8+3 (4); Troy Batchelor 12+1 (5); Kyle Howarth 11+3 (5); Max Fricke 0 (3).

STARS: Niels-Kristian Iversen 14 (6); Lasse Bjerre 9+1 (6); Mads Korneliussen 3 (5); Richie Worrall 3 (3); r/r for Rory Schlein, Nicklas Porsing 2+1 (3); Kozza Smith 6+2 (7).