Panthers returned to the top of the Sky Sports Elite League table but once more they did it the hard way with a second half fight back.
In an all too familiar scenario, the visiting side took an early lead leaving Panthers to play catch up. And once more Panthers were a rider down with Ryan Sullivan absent from the meeting due to flu.
Monday’s meeting against Arena-Essex was the first time for a long time that Panthers were able to field a full-strength side with the return of Jesper B Jensen. But now number three Sullivan faces a race against time to be fit for the all-important away clash at Arena.
Against Oxford the rider replacement facility yielded seven points - thanks largely to a win from Jensen in heat 9 and Niels Kristian Iversen in heat 12, but it proved to be a disaster in the early stages of the meeting.
In heat 3, the first of Sullivan’s programmed rides, Panthers found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-1 after Iversen suffered an engine failure while leading and Richard Hall could not find a way past the Oxford duo of David Howe and Adam Skornicki.
And in heat 5 Piotr Swiderski’s ride failed to bring Panthers any points although the crowd was entertained by the exploits of Hall. He wore down former Grand Prix rider Todd Wiltshire and beat him in a race to the line to save Panthers from another embarrassing 1-5 heat result.
It was a busy night for Hall as he raced seven times to tally 14+1. He was included in heat 5 after Iversen missed the two minute time allowance (his forgotten dirt deflector was not fitted in time) and in heat 15 Hall earned his place on the back of a heat 14 win and a heat 11 paid win.
In fact, heat 14 was the race of the night with Hall and Oxford’s Eric Andersson continually swapping places while Skornicki, wearing the black and white helmet colour, was relegated to last.
Hall deservedly won the Man of the Match awarded but it should be noted that Skipper Hans Andersen recorded a paid maximum. The fans have become so used to Andersen’s double figure scores that he almost gets over looked.
Jensen was also good value for money dropping just a solitary point while Ulrich Ostergaard seems determined not to be defeated by the difficult number two slot and roared to an important race win in heat 6. And Swiderski came good in the latter stages of the meeting earning a ride in heat 15 for the second time this week.
For the visitors, former Panther Howe started off well with two race wins before tailing off while Wiltshire had an inconsistent night and Stanislaw Burza proved to be an inadequate replacement for Showground specialist Ales Dryml.
But Oxford’s spirited showing made sure this was another entertaining meeting. Panthers must hope that they can put up a similar fight at Arena-Essex tonight to maintain their top spot.
Report by Sarah Tooze
Peterborough Panthers 55
1. Hans Andersen 3,2*,3,3 =11+1 2. Ulrich Ostergaard F,3,1*,1 =5+1 3. Ryan Sullivan R/R 4. Niels Kristian Iversen ef, M, 2*,3,1 =6+1 5. Jesper B Jensen 3,1*,3,3,2* =12+2 6. Richard Hall 1,1,2,2,2*,3,3 =14+1 7. Piotr Swiderski 0,2*,0,2,2*,1 =7+2
Oxford Cheetahs 34
1. Todd Wiltshire 2,1, ef =3 2. Davey Watt 1*,3,3, fx =7+1 3. David Howe 3,3,0,1 =7 4. Adam Skornicki 2*,0,2,0 =4+1 5. Stanislaw Burza 0,0,0,0 =0 6. Lubos Tomicek 3,1,ef,0,ef =4 7. Eric Andersson - 2*,1,1,1,2,2 =9+1
