PETERBOROUGH suffered another night to forget at the hands of table-topping Somerset.
The ‘T Balfe Construction’ Panthers were beaten 57-33 at The Oaktree Arena last night by the unbeaten Premier League leaders.
Peterborough did provide three race-winners in the opening third of the contest and also claimed their only heat advantage in the opening stages, but they fell to a fourth defeat of the campaign at the hands of the Rebels.
Emil Grondal inspired a 4-2 in heat three when holding off home rider Paul Starke to take the chequered flag with captain Ulrich Ostergaard back in third place.
Ashley Morris had triumphed in a shared reserves’ race moments earlier while guest number one Matej Kus also took victory in a deadlock in the re-run of heat five.
But two 5-1s in the space of three races from Somerset left Panthers facing a double-figures deficit and their hopes of a comeback were ended when a Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen tactical ride in heat nine backfired.
The Dane could only manage third place behind home pair Starke and Charles Wright and Somerset went on to slam in four more advantages in the final five races.
And it proved to be a particularly painful conclusion for skipper Ostergaard who hit the deck in a heat 12 tangle with Somerset man Bradley Wilson-Dean.
Ostergaard did manage to complete the re-run but Peterborough are now sweating over his fitness for a crucial home clash against fellow play-off hopefuls Edinburgh tomorrow (Sunday).
Number one Craig Cook does return to face the reigning champions, and his former club, after missing the trip to Somerset due to an Elite League fixture clash.
SCORES
SOMERSET: Rohan Tungate 13, Josh Grajczonek 12, Bradley Wilson-Dean 10+2, Paul Starke 10+1, Jake Allen 7+2, Charles Wright 4+1, Rob Shuttleworth 1+1.
PETERBOROUGH ‘T BALFE CONSTRUCTION’ PANTHERS: Matej Kus 10, Ashley Morris 7, Ulrich Ostergaard 6+1, Emil Grondal 5+2, Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 4, Zdenek Holub 1+1, Tom Perry 0.
