PETERBOROUGH promoter Ged Rathbone hailed the returning Robert Lambert for inspiring another super Premier League away success tonight (Sunday).
The Great Britain international slotted back into the Readypower Panthers ranks with a top-scoring 14-point haul, which included a hat-trick of heat wins, as they triumphed 46-44 at Newcastle.
It was an immediate return to winning ways for a Panthers side who had lost their unbeaten league record 48 hours earlier . . . and it left Rathbone delighted.
He said: “Beating a full-strength Newcastle team, full of riders who are excellent at Brough Park, is no mean feat.
“Everyone will be well aware of how disappointed I felt on Friday, but tonight I’m very proud of the response from our riders to pick up a fantastic result.
“It was great to have Robert back tonight and he again showed what a massive part of the team he is.
“We have to accept that he will have commitments elsewhere and our job is to work hard with the Lambert family and help them as much as we can.”
The victory in the North-East did come at a cost for Panthers with key reserve Simon Lambert taken to hospital by ambulance following a heat 14 crash involving all four riders in the race.
He took blows to the head, back and ankle as his partner Michael Palm Toft and Newcastle men Simon Nielsen and Christian Henry also hit the deck in the incident.
Palm Toft was excluded as being the cause of the crash – a decision branded ‘harsh’ by Rathbone, who added: “Fingers crossed it is not too serious for Simon.
“The early indications were that nothing is broken but we will obviously know more once he has been checked over at the hospital.”
Panthers led by eight points going into that race but Ollie Greenwood was on the receiving end of a 5-1 in the re-run which meant Robert Lambert and captain Ulrich Ostergaard, who again reached double-figures despite riding through the pain of ankle ligament damage, had to avoid conceding another maximum in the finale.
They did that by restricting Newcastle to a 4-2 to wrap up a fifth away win of the season in all competitions.
Panthers are now third in the Premier League standings, three points behind leaders Somerset but with a meeting in hand.
The next league action is a trip to Rye House on Saturday (June 20), but Panthers have the second leg of their Travel Plus Tours KO Cup first round clash against Plymouth to negotiate before then on Thursday (June 18).
Panthers will travel to Devon with a two-point advantage following the first leg at Alwalton last month.
SCORES
NEWCASTLE: Steve Worrall 13, Ludvig Lindgren 7, Simon Nielsen 7, Christian Henry 5+3, Anton Rosen 5, Lewis Kerr 4, Lewis Rose 3+1
READYPOWER PANTHERS: Robert Lambert 14, Ulrich Ostergaard 10+1, Ben Barker 8+1, Simon Lambert 6+1, Michael Palm Toft 5, Oliver Greenwood 3+1, Rider replacement for Lewis Blackbird.