Ipswich Witches 51 Peterborough Panthers 43
Sky Sports Elite League 'B'
Saturday 5th August 2006

Peterborough Panthers lost on the night in Suffolk but did enough to win the bonus point, which could be crucial in the end of season run-in. Some inspired Team Managing by Trevor Swales and a superb individual performance once again from Hans Andersen ensured Panthers stay in the mix for the end of season Sky Sports Elite League speedway play-offs.

Panthers were once again without Polish reserve sensation Karol Zabik, this time due to him appearing in the Polish Under 21 Final at Torun, where he won the title with 14 points from Swindon�s Adrian Miedzinski in second and Coventry�s Pawel Hlib in third. Newport�s Joel Parsons came in to replace him and although he ended up with paid four on the scorecard, he was pretty much out of his depth as was expected. Meanwhile, rider-replacement still operated for Jesper B Jensen. Ipswich had to call up reserve Carl Wilkinson as regular choice Danny King was riding at Workington for his Premier League side Mildenhall.

Hans Andersen showed no signs of letting his steamroller season slow down a notch with another awesome 20-point haul but on this occasion the strong back up wasn�t there. Panthers were left to rue either Ryan Sullivan or Niels Kristian Iversen not being on top form as the back up support that was required to close that 8 point defeat margin by the end of heat 15.

The meeting remained in a drawn heat stalemate until Ipswich took control with a 5-1 in heat 6 courtesy of Piotr Protasiewicz and Kim Jansson over Iversen and Hall to make the score 20-16. The earlier heats had seen Panthers stay in contention more through good fortune than anything else. Carl Wilkinson handed a point to Parsons in heat two when he fell whilst third on the second lap turning an Ipswich 4-2 into a 3-3. Then again in heat 5 Tobias Kroner fell when second as he and Mark Loram looked set for a 5-1 on the second lap, handing Panthers another fortunate drawn heat.

Loram and Wilkinson combined for an unlikely 5-1 over Sullivan and Iversen in heat 7 as the Panthers pairing laboured at the back. Then Ostergaard and Hall packed the minor placings to stem the tide with a 3-3 in heat 8 before a Witches 4-2 in heat 9 took the score to 32-22. This of course opened up the way for a tactical ride, which was awarded to Niels Kristian Iversen. He managed a second place behind Protasiewicz, although the Dane seemed to take an eternity to pass Ryan Sullivan and indeed only managed it yards from the finish line. Panthers notched up a rare 5-3 heat success to leave the score at 35-27 with the city side 2 points to the good on aggregate.

Heats 11 to 13 were drawn affairs before Panthers Team Manager Trevor Swales pulled a masterstroke by bringing Hans Andersen into heat 14 as a tactical substitute off 15 metres in place of Iversen. It didn�t seem an obvious decision as passing was difficult but if anyone could achieve it Andersen could. He duly obliged by rounding up Wilkinson to deliver a second place and a 4-4 to protect the 8-point deficit margin. Providing Andersen could win the final race Panthers would escape from Suffolk with something which seemed unlikely at the half way stage of the meeting and the Dane duly obliged with a determined charge from gate 4 to the first bend which clinched the crucial bonus point.

Panthers lost the meeting and although they didn�t go home empty handed, there will need to be big improvement from the middle order of the team in the week�s ahead if the sports top honours are to come their way. They now take on Poole on Thursday evening at the East of England Showground (tapes up 7.30pm) where they will have to be very wary of complacency and a backlash from a Pirates team who will still be smarting form that 56-36 thrashing they received from Panthers on 26th July.

IPSWICH 51 (agg 91)

1: Piotr Protasiewicz - 2,3,3,0. = 8
2: Kim Jansson - 1*,2*,3,0. = 6+2
3: Robert Miskowiak - 0,2,3,2. = 7
4: Chris Louis - 3,1*,1,3,1* = 9+2
5: Mark Loram - 3,3,2,3,2 = 13
6: Carl Wilkinson - Ex,2*,1*,1. = 4+2
7: Tobias Kroner - 3,Ex,0,1*. = 4+1

PETERBOROUGH 43 (agg 93)

1: Hans Andersen - 3,3,2,3,2,4,3 = 20
2: Ulrich Ostergaard - 0,1*,2,0. = 3+1
3: Ryan Sullivan - 1*,1,1*,3,1*,0 = 7+3
4: Niels Kristian Iversen - 2,F,0,4. = 6
5: Jesper Jensen R/R
6: Richard Hall - 2,0,1,1*,0,0. = 4+1
7: Joel Parsons - 1*,2,Ex,0. = 3+1

Ipswich won the toss and took gates 1 & 3

Heat 01: Andersen, Protasiewicz, Jansson, Ostergaard 3-3 59.2
Heat 02: Kroner, Hall, Parsons, Wilkinson(Ex) 6-6 60.3
Heat 03: Louis, Iversen, Sullivan, Miskowiak 9-9 59.8
Heat 04: Loram, Parsons, Ostergaard, Kroner(Ex) 12-12
Heat 05: Andersen, Miskowiak, Louis, Hall 15-15 59.9
Heat 06: Protasiewicz, Jansson, Hall(F/Rem), Iversen(F) 20-16
Heat 07: Loram, Wilkinson, Sullivan, Iversen 25-17 59.9
Heat 08: Jansson, Ostergaard, Hall, Kroner 28-20 60.5
Heat 09: Miskowiak, Andersen, Louis, Hall 32-22 60.3
Heat 10: Protasiewicz, Iversen(TR), Sullivan, Jansson 35-27 60.3
Heat 11: Andersen, Loram, Wilkinson, Ostergaard 38-30 59.8
Heat 12: Sullivan, Miskowiak, Kroner, Hall 41-33 61.1
Heat 13: Loram, Andersen, Sullivan, Protasiewicz 44-36 60.0
Heat 14: Louis, Andersen(TS), Wilkinson, Parsons 48-40 60.2
Heat 15: Andersen, Loram, Louis, Sullivan 51-43 60.0