PATCHED-UP Peterborough put up a good fight at reigning Elite League champions Poole on Wednesday – but were unable to prevent the Pirates equalling a club record for consecutive wins.
The Readypower Panthers travelled to Dorset without the injured Olly Allen and the unwell Michael Jepsen Jensen, and would surely have been even closer with a full-strength team.
Guest Jason Doyle got stuck in against his old club, Jesper B Monberg was hard-working at reserve – but the star performance undoubtedly came from Linus Sundstrom.
The young Swede inflicted the only defeat of the meeting on Adrian Miedzinski in Heat 7 and then after ignition trouble in his next ride he partnered Monberg to a 5-1 in Heat 14 – and then came up with a quite breathtaking finale.
Few riders split or even beat the Darcy Ward/Chris Holder combination at Wimborne Road, but Sundstrom did just that with a fabulous final heat which saw him resist colossal pressure from the two Australian stars.
It was just a pity that Panthers were out of contention for a point by that stage, having held the Pirates close throughout the first half of the meeting.
A possible opening in Heat 8 went away when Monberg fell on the third bend as things got tight behind Ricky Kling – and the re-run was then awarded on the third lap when Kling crashed, when Panthers could conceivably have benefited from a re-run with Lasse Bjerre against Todd Kurtz.
A series of Poole 4-2s followed as the Pirates opened up their lead, Ludvig Lindgren snatching third place from Lasse Bjerre on the finish line in Heat 11 – and brother Kenneth was swamped either-side by Miedzinski and Holder in Heat 13 which secured maximum points for the Pirates before Sundstrom’s super show.
Panthers co-boss Jan Staechmann said: “We came here with a depleted team and we hung in there until halfway through, but we just ran out of steam with a few blips along the way.
“If not everyone is firing when you have rider-replacement it’s always an uphill struggle, certainly when you come to a place like Poole. That’s not an excuse, it’s a fact, but we battled and tried hard and hopefully entertained the crowd.”
POOLE 50: Darcy Ward 12+2, Chris Holder 12+1, Adrian Miedzinski 11, Todd Kurtz 6+1, Dennis Andersson 6, Ludvig Lindgren 3, Ricky Kling 0.
PETERBOROUGH 39: Jesper B Monberg 12+1, Linus Sundstrom 10+1, Kenneth Bjerre 7, Jason Doyle 5+1, Lasse Bjerre 3, Richard Lawson 2, Michael Jepsen Jensen r/r.