PETERBOROUGH powered to the top of the Premier League by successfully completing their revenge mission against Rye House today (April 26).
The Readypower Panthers had suffered an 11-point defeat at the hands of the Rockets in the Premier League Cup a month ago.
But it was a different story when they returned to the East of England Showground for league battle with Peterborough storming to a 55-37 victory.
Star guest Brady Kurtz and skipper Ulrich Ostergaard led the way with four heat victories apiece as Panthers moved into top spot in the early-season standings.
Those two men both contributed 13 points to the overall tally and brought the curtain down on a fine all-round performance with a 5-1 to finish in heat 15.
Ostergaard’s triumph over fellow unbeaten captain Edward Kennett in heat 11 was arguably the highlight of a meeting which featured plenty of good racing on a grippier surface with the new 5pm start-time paying dividends.
He said: “It was nice to see everyone in the points and it feels good to be a captain of a team capable of winning meetings by big scorelines.
“The atmosphere inside the club is really good. Everyone is happy, getting on great and helping each other out.
“We’ve been lucky to have some really good guests as well. Richard Lawson and Brady did really well again today.
“We also had more of an advantage at our home track too. It did still go a bit slick towards the end, but it was much better for us and I don’t think anyone could have been disappointed by the standard of the racing.”
Peterborough had briefly trailed after an unusual 3-2 outcome in favour of the visitors in an opening race which was awarded following a spill for Robin Aspegren with Michael Palm Toft having already pulled up with mechanical problems.
A hat-trick of 5-1s soon had them on top and they quickly built up an unassailable advantage despite Kennett being successful with a tactical ride in heat five.
Kennett and guest reserve Nico Covatti impressed for the visitors while Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen delivered a glimpse of his talent when ended the winning run of Ostergaard in heat 13.
That race provided the visitors’ only maximum of the night as Kennett also pinched second after Ostergaard hit bike trouble on the final lap.
But that was merely a minor source of irritation on a day when Panthers oozed strength in depth.
Simon Lambert continued to score heavily at reserve while guest number one Richard Lawson also contributed well ahead of a last place in heat 13.
Reserve Ollie Greenwood hinted that a return to form is on the cards by book-ending his afternoon with second places while Lewis Blackbird and Michael Palm Toft also chipped in with useful contributions.
Panthers’ next action comes on Friday (May 1) when they make a second visit of the season to the St Boniface Arena to take on Plymouth.
They recently triumphed 57-36 at the Devon venue in a League Cup tie to register the ninth-biggest away victory in the club’s history.
SCORES
READYPOWER PANTHERS: Brady Kurtz (guest) 13+1, Ulrich Ostergaard 13, Simon Lambert 8+1, Richard Lawson (guest) 8, Lewis Blackbird 5+3, Michael Palm Toft 4+2, Ollie Greenwood 4+1.
RYE HOUSE: Edward Kennett 13+1, Nico Covatti 13, Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 7, Anders Mellgren 2+1, Robin Aspegren 2+1, Tom Perry 0, Rider replacement for Steve Boxall.