Sky Sports Elite League B Thursday 17th August 2006
The Danish duo of Hans Andersen and Niels Kristian Iversen saved Panthers from a home defeat after Wolves led for the majority of the meeting.
The first heat began favourably for the home side, courtesy of a 4-2 from Andersen and on-form again Ulrich Ostergaard, but that was the only time Panthers led until heat 13.
Heat 2 was when it all started to go wrong for Panthers. Hall gated and with Karol Zabik making a move to go round the Wolves riders on the back straight things looked promising. But disaster struck. Zabik went wide on the third bend and fell. He limped off the track but it was announced to the crowd after heat 4 that he would take no further part in the meeting having suffered a groin injury.
So Panthers found themselves with a case of déjà vu. This time last week they were reduced to just a five man squad owing to the continued absence of injured Jesper B Jensen and then the injury to guest James Cockle. Now they were once more two riders down.
The fact that Zabik scored paid 13 against Eastbourne shows what a difference he can make to the end score line so there were more than a few fans biting their nails apprehensively.
And Panthers weren’t helped by referee Chris Durno’s controversial decision to exclude Hall in the re-run of heat 2 – gifting Wolves a 5-0. From gate 2 Hall found himself sandwiched between the Wolves riders and not surprisingly (especially when taking into account the wet track conditions) slid off. But there was an indication that the referee wasn’t going to look kindly on the Panther when it took some time before he stopped the race.
That heat put Wolves in the lead 7-4 and the home side even allowed them to stretch that lead to seven points after heat 5 when former Panther Peter Karlsson and Christian Hefenbrock scored a 5-1 over Iversen and Ryan Sullivan.
Panthers pegged it back with some valuable team riding from Andersen and Ostergaard in the next race before disaster struck again in heat 7. Sullivan had made the gate and thanks to a determined ride from Hall Panthers were on for a 5-1.But on the last bend Sullivan’s bike slowed. And with it went Panthers’ chance to take the lead in the meeting.
Wolves recorded a 4-2 in the next race, after Hefenbrock had given Ostergaard a nudge on the first bend, and the visitors were five points in front.
But that proved to be Wolves’ last heat advantage of the night as Panthers began to fight their way back into the lead.
Iversen won heat 9 from the gate with Sullivan finding a way through into third spot to give Panthers a 4-2. Two 3-3’s followed thanks to the consistent Andersen before an important 4-2 from Sullivan and Hall which put Panthers just one point behind Wolves.
Then came Panthers’ first 5-1 since heat 6. Perfectly timed. And reassuringly for the Panthers’ fans Andersen and Iversen did it from the gate without having to work for their points.
A 4-2 in heat 14 and a 3-3 in the final race rounded off proceedings and made sure Panthers bagged three points instead of leaving the Showground empty handed.
