PETERBOROUGH boosted their prospects of Premier League Cup progress by dramatically snatching a draw at Somerset tonight (April 11).
‘Old man’ Ales Dryml and skipper Ulrich Ostergaard teamed up for a vital 5-1 in the final race to earn two impressive points at the Oaktree Arena.
Great Britain chief Alun Rossiter, who stepped into the Panthers hotseat with regular management duo Trevor Swales and Blayne Scroggins both unavailable, said: “I wound Ales up a treat by calling him an old man.
“When he came back into the pits after heat 15 he said he won the race because of that!
“It was a fair result at the end of a cracking race and a cracking meeting. The lads all dug deep and kept themselves in contention throughout.
“We had to ensure we picked up at least a point but we felt Somerset looked a bit vulnerable towards the end and we got the 5-1 when we needed it to earn the draw.
“I enjoyed working with the riders and hopefully they enjoyed working with me.”
Panthers found themselves playing catch-up after being on the receiving end of three 4-2s in the opening four races.
The fourth heat was marred by a nasty crash involved Panthers reserve Oliver Greenwood which led to the withdrawal of Rebels man Olly Allen with concussion.
Greenwood was leading the contest when suffered a snapped chain, but he emerged relatively unscathed to race on in the remainder of the meeting.
Panthers pulled level when their star duo of Ostergaard and Dryml – operating together for the first time following tweaks to the riding order – slammed in a 5-1 in heat seven.
Lewis Blackbird then took the chequered flag in a 4-2 in the next race as they hit the front, but the hosts responded powerfully with back-to-back 5-1s.
Blackbird again spearheaded a 4-2 in heat 11 to leave Panthers within striking distance and that’s the way it stayed during a series of shared heats.
But Dryml and Ostergaard delivered a powerful final blow to ensure the scores were levelled.
Panthers are back in action on Tuesday (April 15) when they entertain Plymouth at the East of England Showground.
SOMERSET: Charles Wright 14+1, Pontus Aspgren 10+1, Nick Morris 8+1, Todd Kurtz 7+1, Brady Kurtz 4+1, Paul Starke 2, Olly Allen 0
PANTHERS: Ales Dryml 11+1, Ulrich Ostergaard 10+1, Lewis Blackbird 8, Lasse Bjerre 8, Aaron Summers (guest) 5+2, Joe Jacobs 2, Oliver Greenwood 1