Peterborough Panthers battled for every point but just ran out of steam in the final reckoning, narrowly losing out by a 48-42 verdict in an enthralling meeting at Wolverhampton last night.
This wasn’t one of those lame Monmore Green performances of old that most Panthers fans can recollect from previous outings in the West Midlands, in fact this was quite the opposite as Panthers recovered from a mid meeting 8 point deficit to force a last heat decider.
Panthers went into the meeting once again operating rider-replacement for Tomasz Bajerski that which netted them 3 points on the night. Wolves started with a 4-2 in heat 1 as ex-Panther Peter Karlsson set about reminding everyone what Panthers were missing out on in 2006. A drawn second heat, which was won by the German Christian Hefenbrock, was a warning of what was to come as the youngster looked very polished throughout and could well be a shrewd Wolves signing for the future. After another drawn heat, Wolves laid down their intent on the meeting with a relatively easy 5-1 over Ryan Sullivan and Ulrich Ostergaard that was all over after the first lap.
Hans Andersen won heat 5 in fine style in the second fastest time of the night of 56.88. Panthers were going to need him to beat the Wolves heat-leaders to stand any chance and he didn’t disappoint as the night progressed. Peter Karlsson took heat 6 as Ryan Sullivan produced a better ride to claim second. Another 4-2 to Wolves however extended their lead to 22-14.
Jesper B Jensen came in for his R/R ride in heat 8 and won with a sweeping overtake around turns 3 and 4 as Ulrich Ostergaard showed some nice aggression at the back to get a battling third as Panthers tried to halt the slide with a 4-2 of their own. Peterborough then got the rub of the green from referee Rod Smith in heat 9. A seemingly 50-50 shout when Ostergaard and Correy went down on turn one at the back of the race resulted in exclusion for the tiny American. Ryan Sullivan then brought Panthers right back into the meeting winning the re-run as Ostergaard took another third place for a 4-2.
A drawn heat 10 was gifted to Panthers when Magnus Karlsson slid off after he made the start with brother Peter. Jesper B and Niels Kristian Iversen gladly picked up the minor placings before Hamill beat Andersen in the eleventh race to leave Wolves six ahead at 36-30 at the interval.
Heat 12 really put the Wolves fans in a spin as Jesper B Jensen and Ulrich Ostergaard were cruising to a 5-1 over the Correy/Hefenbrock partnership, only for the German to slide off at back producing speedways version of the football professional foul in the process. Luckily for Panthers, the referee saw straight through it and awarded the race at the point it was stopped, 37-35 to the homesters.
Panthers had to make heat 14 count and rely on the Jensen/Andersen partnership pulling out the stops in heat 15. In a classic heat 14 encounter, Iversen and Ostergaard both held good positions as all four riders jockeyed for advantage throughout the four laps before Wolves ran out 4-2 victors. They repeated the success in heat 15 to wrap up the match points by 48-42.
Overall though this was an excellent performance from the Panthers (notably from Andersen and Jensen) on the night which has put the bonus point in a very winnable position for the return leg on Thursday 1st June at Alwalton. But before that Panthers return to Sky Sports Elite League action on Good Friday of this week at 5pm with the tough looking Swindon Robins the visitors. Please note, the action starts at the East of England Showground at 5pm.
Monday, 10th April Sky Sports Elite League
WOLVERHAMPTON 48 1 Peter Karlsson 3 3 3 2 3 = 14 2 Magnus Karlsson 1 1 0 0 = 2 3 Ronnie Correy 0 1' 0 1 = 2+1 4 Freddie Lindgren 3 2 2 1 = 8 5 Billy Hamill 3 3 3 1' 1 = 11+1 6 Ben Wilson 0 0 1 = 1 7 Christian Hefenbrock 3 2' 2 0 3 = 10+1
