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THEO Pijper suffered concussion, a suspected broken collarbone and dislocated thumb following a horror crash as the Robins bowed out of the Craven Shield, despite a 46-44 win over Poole Pirates at Blunsdon.

The incident happened on the first bend of the last lap in heat 11 when, with Pijper in second place, his back wheel was clipped by the Pirates' Adam Skornicki.

Both riders flipped off their bikes and flew into the fence, leaving Pijper (pictured) motionless on the track and Skornicki not far away.

With paramedics straight on the scene, the Robins man was out cold but came to in the ambulance and was taken to Great Western Hospital, while Skornicki suffered a suspected broken right wrist.

Even though the result wasn't enough to see the Robins progress in the competition, manager Alun Rossiter was pleased with the victory and the performance of some of his new signings, and is confident that Pijper will be fit for the start of the Elite League season next week.

He said: "Theo was out cold and motionless on the track. I spoke to him as he came round eventually in the pits in the ambulance, and he he just said that he felt ok but it was just his head.

"He said he feels okay in himself and fingers crossed, he should be alright.

"I hope he's back for the first Elite League meeting. It's a couple of days in between but obviously we've got to see how he is. We've got Cory Gathercole to come in as a back-up if not.

"I was quite pleased overall. We weren't going to get the aggregate point, but we really didn't want to lose at home.

"I thought Seb's (Alden) looking quite good and what was most pleasing was that Travis (McGowan) is back on it.

"We gave him a different engine tonight and he showed that he hasn't lost it. We've got him going and he'll be ok from now on."

Pijper was kept in hospital overnight but is expected to be released this evening.

7:02am Friday 28th March 2008

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