PETERBOROUGH still have hopes of ending their seven-and-a-half year silverware drought despite being pipped by treble-chasing Edinburgh in the first leg of the Premier League Cup final yesterday (Sunday).
The ‘TC Harrison’ Panthers never led during a 46-44 loss at the East of England Showground – a result which leaves them with a stiff task in the second leg in Scotland on Friday (October 10).
But a brilliant heat 15 performance from top-scoring guest Todd Kurtz and skipper Ulrich Ostergaard will at least give them hope of turning the tie around north of the border.
Kurtz, borrowed from Somerset, collected his third win of the afternoon in the finale while Ostergaard breathtakingly got the better of the previously unbeaten Justin Sedgmen and Craig Cook to secure a 5-1 which earned a standing ovation.
Edinburgh had been assured of victory in the first leg by Steve Worrall’s victory in a shared penultimate heat, but it was by no means a poor performance from Panthers.
All six members of their patched-up team got among the points with reserve duo Nicki Barrett and Max Dilger out-scoring their direct opponents Derek Sneddon and Aaron Fox 10-2.
Admittedly the home pair did have to take extra outings due to the use of the rider replacement facility to cover for the departed Richard Hall, but both were in considerably better form than of late.
The teams traded 5-1s in the opening two races with Dilger and Barrett delivering an instant reply for Panthers after Sedgmen and Cook had started explosively for Edinburgh.
The same visiting combination claimed another maximum over Kurtz in heat five to edge back ahead and that’s the way it stayed during a series of four shared races.
Guest number one Richard Lawson and Adam Roynon fired Panthers level with a 5-1 in heat 10 when Monarchs man Max Fricke raced off a 15-metre handicap after missing the two minutes.
But it was the away team who finished more strongly after the interval. Cook was involved in two 5-1s in the space of three races before Worrall’s pass on Roynon in heat 14 ended Panthers’ hopes of first leg glory in their final home meeting of the season.
SCORES
‘TC HARRISON’ PANTHERS: Todd Kurtz 11+1, Ulrich Ostergaard 10+1, Adam Roynon 8+1, Nicki Barrett 6+2, Richard Lawson 5+1, Max Dilger 4+1, Rider replacement for Richard Hall.
EDINBURGH: Justin Sedgmen 12+1, Sam Masters 11, Craig Cook 9+3, Steve Worrall 6+2, Max Fricke 6, Derek Sneddon 1+1, Aaron Fox 1.