PETERBOROUGH saw their run of taking at least a point from every Elite League meeting so far this season come to an end at Lakeside on Friday.
The tricky Purfleet circuit has rarely been a happy hunting ground for the Readypower Panthers, and the home side proved by far the more solid septet as they ran just two last places all evening.
For the Panthers it was almost exclusively two-man show with Niels-Kristian Iversen fully justifying his inclusion as a guest for GP-bound Kenneth Bjerre, the former Peterborough regular dropping only two points from five rides.
And youngster Michael Jepsen Jensen also showed up well after taking a couple of rides to weigh up the circuit, then winning his next two outings and picking up third place ahead of Lee Richardson in Heat 15.
But for the remaining members of the side it was largely a night to forget with the pattern being set by a series of early Hammers’ advantages, two 4-2s and two 5-1s seeing the home side open up an 18-6 lead.
Iversen trimmed that by winning a tactical ride in Heat 5 for the Panthers’ first success, but the next four heats were far from enjoyable viewing with Lakeside adding three more 5-1s and a 4-2 to move into an imposing 40-17 advantage and leave Panthers looking at damage limitation.
Jepsen Jensen showed his talent when he went for double in Heat 10, heading home veteran Peter Karlsson for a six-pointer with Olly Allen third for a 7-2, and the closing third of the meeting saw the Panthers much more competitive.
Lakeside were limited to only one more 5-1, which came in Heat 12, with the other four races shared thanks to two more wins from Iversen, one from Jepsen Jensen, and a 3-3 from the pair ahead of Lee Richardson in Heat 15.
But all hopes of a point had long since vanished by that stage and the Panthers will be keen to get back on-track at Coventry next Friday as part of a hectic away schedule this month – with their long-awaited Showground return pencilled in for May 21 against Birmingham.
LAKESIDE 59: Davey Watt 12+2, Lee Richardson 10, Peter Karlsson 9+1, Kim Nilsson 9+1, Robert Mear 8+2, Richie Worrall 6+2, Kauko Nieminen 5+2.
PETERBOROUGH 37: Niels-Kristian Iversen 16, Michael Jepsen Jensen 11+1, Olly Allen 3, Linus Sundstrom 3, Richard Lawson 3, Jesper B Monberg 1, Rene Bach 0.