PANTHERS 49 WORKINGTON 43: PETERBOROUGH amassed a six-point advantage in their League Cup semi-final showdown against Workington after another tense thriller at the East of England Showground.
The ‘TC Harrison’ Panthers had looked on course for a far greater cushion when roaring 11 points clear following eight exciting heats, but the plucky Comets – who lost Kyle Howarth after only one ride - clawed their way back to set-up a mouth-watering second leg next month.
There was drama from start to finish with guest Workington number one Richard Lawson scorching to a new Premier League-level track record in the opener while a chain failure for Panthers favourite Lasse Bjerre in the finale could have a major bearing on the aggregate picture.
Lawson, a Panthers rider during 2011 and 2012, and the star individual performer on show tonight, provided an electric start by clocking a red-hot time of 59.6 seconds when storming to glory in the first race.
That was enough to knock a tenth-of-a-second off the previous best second-tier time which was shared by Aussies Mark Lemon and Christian Henry.
It might not have been quite as quick, but the performance of Panthers debutant Nicki Barrett in heat two was equally as impressive.
The Danish reserve launched his Peterborough career with a tapes-to-flag triumph in his first-ever ride on the Showground track. Like Lawson, the new recruit rocketed out of gate four and never looked back.
Panthers quickly seized command with a power-packed run of four successive heat advantages which was book-ended by 5-1s. Skipper Ostergaard and Dryml delivered the first of them in the third race before Lewis Blackbird and Ryan Fisher roared to another moments later.
There were two exciting 4-2s in between as Bjerre brilliantly won a dramatic fourth heat battle with fellow Dane Rene Bach before Dryml proved too hot for record-breaker Lawson to handle in heat five.
Panthers will not have been happy with the way their hot streak ended as Workington’s sole representative, Ricky Wells, triumphed in heat seven after Bjerre had made a hash of the start.
Wells had been left on a solo mission after Howarth was excluded for not making it to the start inside two minutes.
An unusual 3-2 scoreline followed in an awarded eighth heat as Workington man Mason Campton hit the deck when being passed for the lead by the impressive Blackbird on the final lap.
Referee Ronnie Allan deemed no wrongdoing on the part of the Panthers man whose partner Barrett had retired earlier in the race.
Workington cut their arrears when Bach successfully completed a tactical ride in a 6-3 outcome to heat nine before a series of shared heats kept Panthers’ cushion pegged at eight points.
It was somewhat cruelly reduced further in the finale when Bjerre retired from second spot – an incident which turned another deadlock into a 4-2 for Workington with the imperious Lawson again leading the field to the flag.
But team boss Trevor Swales refused to be downbeat. He said: “The boys rode well and I felt they were unlucky not to win by more.
“Nicki had a retirement in one race after starting his debut so well and Lasse broke a chain in the last heat, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.
“Workington are a very strong side, but we need to go into the second leg with a mindset of trying to win, rather than defending our advantage.”
Panthers return to league action with a hectic spell of four meetings in four days next week, starting with the visit of Sheffield to the Showground on Wednesday (June 25).
SCORES:
‘TC HARRISON’ PANTHERS: Ales Dryml 11+2, Lasse Bjerre 9, Lewis Blackbird 9+1, Ulrich Ostergaard 8, Ryan Fisher 5+2, Nicki Barrett 4, Joe Jacobs 3+3.
WORKINGTON: Richard Lawson (guest) 14, Ricky Wells 10, Rene Bach 9, Taylor Poole (guest) 5, Simon Lambert 4+2, Mason Campton 1, Kyle Howarth 0 (withdrawn).