PETERBOROUGH had to settle for a point in a tight Premier League tussle at Sheffield last night (Thursday).
The ‘TC Harrison’ Panthers were eventually pipped 46-44 by a struggling home side featuring only four of their regular riders after a spate of injuries.
High-scoring Danish duo of Lasse Bjerre and Ulrich Ostergaard piled up 27 points between them for Peterborough, but they lacked the necessary support to turn a narrow loss into a positive result at Owlerton.
“In one way I’m pleased to put another away point on the board, said Panthers team boss Carl Johnson. “But I’m also disappointed not to end up with more.
“We really wanted to follow up the great win against Edinburgh at the weekend with another victory, but we had two-or-three riders not on song and that’s why we came up just short in the end.
“We have a couple of weeks now to regroup and we know we need to come back strongly if we are going to make it into the play-offs.”
Panthers were behind for almost all of a nail-biting contest. They briefly levelled following a Nicki Barrett-inspired 4-2 in heat two and parity was again restored after Bjerre and Lewis Blackbird took advantage of a Sam Masters crash to slam in a 5-1 in a re-run of heat 11.
But Panthers were on the receiving end of a maximum in the very next race following the second of two costly retirements for Ales Dryml.
A pair of shared races ensured they remained four points adrift going into the finale when main men Bjerre and Ostergaard required a 5-1 to snatch a draw.
The Panthers duo gated smartly to hit the front but Sheffield skipper Simon Stead sped past Ostergaard on the opening lap to guarantee victory for the hosts.
Panthers’ next league meeting is a trip to Scunthorpe on Friday, August 8. The club are in action before then when staging the Premier League Fours Championship at the Showground on Sunday, August 3.
SCORES
SHEFFIELD: Taylor Poole 12+1, Simon Stead 12, Andre Compton 9+1, Ben Wilson 8, Sam Masters 3, Tom Perry 2+1, Rider replacement for Ty Proctor.
PETERBOROUGH: Lasse Bjerre 14, Ulrich Ostergaard 13, Lewis Blackbird 7+2, Ales Dryml 4+1, Nicki Barrett 4, Joe Jacobs 2, Rider replacement for Ryan Fisher.