PETERBOROUGH need to win their last four matches to gatecrash the play-offs.
The Readypower Panthers made a blistering start in their bid to complete the Bank Holiday double – but then collapsed in the later stages to hand Elite League rivals Coventry a 49-41 win.
Heat 13 was a win-or-bust race for the Panthers and it showed as it was twice stopped because of first bend falls. Bees’ Ryan Fisher hit the dirt on both occasions but after looking at a video of Sky Sports’ coverage of the clash, referee Dave Dowling ordered successive re-runs.
But it was third time unlucky for the Panthers when Nicki Pedersen dived under Fisher on the third turn, the American going down leaving the two Peterborough riders in front.
Controversially he excluded the Dane from the re-run – a massive blow to Peterborough’s hopes of a victory on the night and their play-off chances.
Team boss Trevor Swales blamed referee Dowling for the defeat: “I felt that certainly one major refereeing decision went against us and that cost us dearly.
“We watched it on the replay and I can’t do too much into detail but their rider agreed he’d leaned on Nicki.
“I must admit I’m at a loss now what to do because we’ve certainly given away four points tonight. It’s so frustrating that we are so close yet so far.”
It was a result that did little for either side’s chances of clambering into the top four after they shared the day’s spoils, the Panthers having won 54-40 at the East of England Showground.
Peterborough were six points up after the first two races through early wins for Krzysztof Buczkowski and Dakota North were exactly what was needed but the Bees bounced back and things were all-level after six heats with Nicki Pedersen failing to finish his second ride, stopping while in last place as the home side claimed their first heat maximum.
Another 5-1 reversal in Heat 8 saw Coventry edge into the lead for the first time and the omens were almost as ominous as the gathering rain clouds swirling above Brandon.
Even though the skipper finally got it all right with a win in Heat 11 the Bees stung again in the following race to open up a six-point lead through a Nick Morris-Ryan Fisher max.
And when Coventry sealed their victory with a Heat 14 maximum it even ended the Panthers slim hopes of picking up what would have been a crucial consolation point.
Not even a last race maximum for top-scoring Troy Batchelor and Pedersen could hide the disappointment of a day that started so brightly.
With home matches against King’s Lynn (on Thursday) and Swindon and trips to the Norfolk Arena and Blunsdon to come Panthers must almost certainly come out on top in all four meetings and even then might have to rely on one of their rivals to slip-up.
COVENTRY 49: Danny King 11:1, Rory Schlein 11, Ryan Fisher 10:2, Kenni Larsen 9, Nick Morris 8:2, James Holder 0, rider replacement for Edward Kennett.
PETERBOROUGH 41: Troy Batchelor 13, Linus Sundström 8, Krzysztof Buczkowski 6, Nicki Pedersen 6:1, Dakota North 3, Kacper Gomolski 3:1, Michael Jensen 2.