PANTHERS were cruelly denied what would have been a wonderful away point at the hardest hunting ground in speedway last night.
Main man Kenneth Bjerre retired when leading the final heat of their showdown with Elite League top dogs Poole. At the time Bjerre and partner Troy Batchelor had been on a 4-2 advantage which would have sealed a five-point loss and, more importantly, earned a priceless consolation point in the race for a play-off place.
But Panthers’ joy turned to despair when Bjerre was struck down by a mechanical problem and Batchelor was passed by Australian rival Chris Holder, handing the hosts a 5-1 and all three available points.
It was a sickening blow at the end of a spirited performance from Trevor Swales’ charges – but certainly not their only reason to feel aggrieved.
The Panthers camp were also seriously unhappy with a piece of Holder riding in heat 10 which left Rory Schlein nursing an ankle injury, but went unpunished by referee Daniel Holt.
It was the catalyst for a Panthers 5-1 turning into a Poole 4-2 and left Schlein as a major doubt ahead of the club’s hectic run-in which continues with a Friday home date against Coventry.
Swales said: “Everyone is absolutely crestfallen to miss out on a point because we definitely deserved one.
“We were on a 4-2 in the last race when disaster struck, but the real turning point happened in heat 10.
“I’m not for one minute saying Holder intended to hit Rory, but he was carrying way too much speed into a corner and it was the most blatant case of unfair riding I have ever seen. “What should have been a 5-1 for us turned into a 4-2 for them and also injured a rider who had been flying. Rory’s ankle has come up like a balloon and he could only come last in his final race.
“To say we were unlucky is an understatement, but I couldn’t be happier with the lads for their performance. If Poole were thinking about choosing to face us in the play-offs, I’m sure this performance will have changed their minds.”
Runaway leaders Poole have now won all 16 home meetings in the regular season without dropping a point – but this was easily their most worrying Wimborne Road night. Only Swindon, who escaped with a 51-41 loss last month, have come closer to picking up a point at the Dorset fortress.
Panthers also paid the price for a slow start as they were on the receiving end of 5-1s in the opening two heats.
Bjerre could find no way past Holder and Darcy Ward in the opener before Poole reserves Leon Madsen and Jason Doyle dominated the second contest from tapes to flag.
But the home stranglehold was quickly broken as Panthers claimed a couple of 4-2s of their own. The impressive Schlein took victory in heat three when partner Niels Kristian Iversen got past Artur Mroczka into third spot and then applied the pressure to fellow Dane Bjarne Pedersen.
The duo of Batchelor and Norbert Kosciuch were on a maximum for part of the opening lap of heat four, but Pirates skipper Davey Watt split the away pair to reduce their gains.
Bjerre and Batchelor ensured Panthers remained just four points adrift with wins in the next two races (Batchelor’s no doubt especially satisfying as he had the edge over fierce Australian rivals Holder and Ward) before another 4-2 from the Schlein/Iversen combination left them breathing right down the hosts’ necks.
That was as close as they got though as Poole re-asserted their control over the next three heats.
The table-toppers edged three points clear when Ward defeated Krzysztof Buczkowski in a two-man re-run of heat eight. Both Kosciuch and Doyle were excluded for hitting the deck in separate incidents during the initial staging.
A third 5-1 quickly followed courtesy of Pedersen and Mroczka in heat nine and Panthers then saw a 5-1 of their own turn into a 4-2 deficit in that controversial 10th instalment.
That outcome eased the home side nine points clear, but their cushion had been reduced to seven by the end of a ding-dong run of three 4-2s.
Kenneth Bjerre twice took the flag for Panthers in the 11th and 13th heats as they kept their hopes of a consolation point alive.
That was still the case after skipper Iversen came good to register his sole success of the night in a shared penultimate race.
And Panthers thought they had succeeded where all others had previously failed until being undone by that late twist of fate.
Despite ultimately coming up short, they well and truly restored their pride to erase the memory of a dismal home defeat at the hands of Eastbourne on Monday.
POOLE Chris Holder 11+2 (3, 1*, 3, 2, 2*) Darcy Ward 8+1 (2*, 2, 3, 1) Bjarne Pedersen 13 (2, 2, 3, 3, 3) Artur Mroczka 5+1 (0, 1*, 2*, 2) Davey Watt 4 (2, 2, 0, 0) Leon Madsen 5 (3, 0, 2) Jason Doyle 4+2 (2*, 0, X, 1, 1*) Team manager: Neil Middleditch.
