PETERBOROUGH chief Ged Rathbone insists the right decision was reached tonight.

The 'T Balfe Construction' Panthers saw their SGB Championship KO Cup quarter-final first leg trip to Scunthorpe abandoned.

Five heats had been completed - with Peterborough trailing 19-11 - when a downpour flooded parts of the Eddie Wright Raceway circuit.

And despite attempts to restore the track to acceptable condition, the meeting was eventually called off by referee Peter Clarke.

Peterborough promoter Ged Rathbone said: "We appreciate the efforts the Scunthorpe track-staff put in to try to ensure the meeting continued - and also thank the supporters present for their patience - but unfortunately the rain had done too much damage.

"An away team cannot request that a meeting is abandoned while they are in a losing position.

"The referee held discussions with both team managers, both captains and spoke to all riders on an individual basis.

"No member of either team wanted to continue the meeting and rider safety must come first. We also have a duty to the paying public to ensure we are putting on racing of a suitable standard."

Peterborough are enduring a frustrating run with bad weather. Three of their previous six meetings had been postponed before this clash was abandoned.

A new date is still to be agreed. The teams meet again in this competition at the East of England Arena on Friday, June 16.

Peterborough are next in action on Thursday when they travel to Redcar for a league clash.

SCUNTHORPE 19: Lewis Kerr 6, Tero Aarnio 6, Michael Palm Toft 3, Ryan Douglas 2, Carl Wilkinson 1, Nathan Greaves 1, Josh Auty r/r.
PETERBOROUGH 11: Chris Harris 4, Paul Starke 2, Simon Lambert 2, Tom Bacon 2, Kyle Newman 1+1, Ulrich Ostergaard 0, Jack Holder r/r.
Abandoned after Heat 5 (rain) – Result does not stand.