COVENTRY Buildbase Bees dug themselves out of a serious hole to register a much-needed first Elite League win in seven outings.

On a miserable mid-summer evening during which rain fell for most of the meeting, Bees found themselves staring at a shock scoreline of 9-21 after five races with the Robins seemingly romping to victory.

Both sides deserved credit for seeing the meeting through with the track standing up well but visibility difficult - and Bees had a hero in young reserve Ben Barker who showed no fear and clearly relished the conditions.

Barker collected a super-impressive haul of 12 (paid 15) and was called upon to take extra rides after Andreas Messing crashed of the meeting in Heat 4, hitting the fence after spinning and being ruled out with a leg injury.

A tactical ride win for Chris Harris in Heat 6 backed up by second place from the returning Billy Janniro got Bees back in contention, and Barker maintained their momentum with a fine win over Mads Korneliussen in Heat 7.

The home side hit the front for the first time in Heat 9, completing a remarkable comeback with a 5-1 from Simon Stead and Olly Allen, and from then on they always looked likely winners.

Rory Schlein headed home Leigh Adams in emphatic style in Heat 11, and it was Barker who put the icing on the cake by following Allen to a match-winning maximum in Heat 14 - and to the delight of the crowd, he was then nominated for Heat 15 and collected another 5-1 with Harris over Korneliussen and James Wright.

Bees manager Peter Oakes said: "There was a great deal of character shown in that win, because after the run we've been on heads could easily have dropped after the start we made.

"Clearly Ben was a catalyst for our recovery, but a number of our riders changed bikes after their first couple of rides and that obviously made a big difference to us. The team did well to produce that result."

BUILDBASE BEES 52: Chris Harris 16, Ben Barker 12+3, Simon Stead 7+1, Rory Schlein 6+1, Olly Allen 6, Billy Janniro 5+2, Andreas Messing 0.

SWINDON 41: Leigh Adams 11, Mads Korneliussen 10+1, James Wright 7+2, Travis McGowan 6+1, Krzysztof Stojanowski 6+1, Paul Clews 1+1, Troy Batchelor r/r.

*BEES now take a ten-day break for the Speedway World Cup, with Brandon staging the second round of the competiton on Monday. A preview will be issued over the weekend.