PETERBOROUGH duo Ulrich Ostergaard and Michael Palm Toft came agonisingly close to a place in the final of the Premier League Pairs on Friday night.
The Danes powered through Group A of the competition at the Oak Tree Arena before being eliminated by hosts Somerset by the narrowest of margins.
The Rebels pair of Brady Kurtz and Josh Grajczonek held a 7-2 advantage for most of the race but Ostergaard stormed into second going through the third bend on the final lap.
And Palm Toft came within a whisker of following his skipper through on the charge to the finish line.
Joint Readypower Panthers team boss Carl Johnson said: “Ulrich and Michael both did the club proud with their performances.
“The target was to come through the group stage and they did that with a race to spare.
“And they were very unlucky not to make it into the final. They were only the width of a tyre away from doing it in the end.”
Panthers began with a bang by slamming Rye House 7-2 as their opening race was completed at the third attempt and they followed up with another maximum against Newcastle as both men powered past Diamonds ace Steve Worrall.
A 5-4 triumph against Edinburgh clinched their place in the semi-finals even before they were pipped by the same scoreline by eventual winners Ipswich after Palm Toft retired.
But their strong run came to an end in the semi-final showdown against Somerset.
PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS Group A Ipswich 24 (Danny King 15/Rohan Tungate 9) Peterborough 23 (Ulrich Ostergaard 13/Michael Palm Toft 10) Edinburgh 16 (Sam Masters 14/Kevin Wolbert 2) Newcastle 14 (Lewis Kerr 9/Steve Worrall 5) Rye House 13 (Edward Kennett 7/Nikolaj B Jakobsen 6)
