PETERBOROUGH boss Carl Johnson saluted the efforts of a depleted team on a difficult Sunday night – and also paid tribute to the club’s travelling fans.
The injury-hit ‘T Balfe Construction’ suffered defeat on the road for the third time in as many days when going down 58-34 at Newcastle.
Peterborough were only able to call on three of their regular riders at Brough Park – and Chris Harris, Simon Lambert and Paul Starke were their most impressive men in a battling display.
Lambert inspired their sole race advantage when triumphing in a heat two 4-2 while five of the opening nine races ended in 3-3 deadlocks as Peterborough kept their hosts in check, but a run of four 5-1s in the space of five races allowed Newcastle to open up a big lead before Harris took victory in a shared finale.
That was the number one’s second triumph of a night in which he piled up a classy 13 points, while Lambert was paid for double-figures with an 8+3 haul as he completed a seven-ride shift for the third successive night.
Starke also claimed one race victory in his six-point haul while guest Jonas B. Andersen – drafted in at late notice to replace injured captain Ulrich Ostergaard – managed five points from his first three outings ahead of a last place and an exclusion.
National League guests Shelby Rutherford and Luke Ruddick – in for Jack Holder and Tom Bacon respectively – contributed a point apiece.
Ostergaard was ruled out by knee and ankle injuries sustained in a crash at Berwick the previous evening, while Bacon suffered shoulder damage in a spill at Edinburgh on Friday, and Bradley Wilson-Dean took no part in the Northern tour due to a hand problem. Holder was again allowed to race in Poland.
Team boss Johnson said: “We knew we were going to be up against it at Newcastle, but we battled hard.
"We kept things tight for the first half of the meeting, but Newcastle's run of 5-1s knocked the stuffing out of us. "I can't fault the lads. We dug in, worked hard and stuck together on a night when it was all about riding with pride.
"We've all worked very hard for the last three days and things haven't gone our way. I feel for the supporters who gave up their time and money to follow us in all three meetings. "We really appreciate their backing and it's a shame we couldn't give them more to cheer, but we've still got nine league meetings to go and we'll be doing all we can to pick up plenty of wins.
“Our main focus now is on getting guys fit again. We’re hopeful Bradley will be back on a bike very soon and Tom is hoping to see a specialist about his shoulder this week. “Ulrich was due to go to hospital last night to get himself checked out properly so we’ll hopefully learn a bit more in the coming days.”
Peterborough are scheduled to return to action at Scunthorpe on Sunday.
SCORES NEWCASTLE: Steve Worrall 14, Robert Lambert 11+1, Stuart Robson 9+1, Ludvig Lindgren 8+4, Ashley Morris 7+2, Ben Hopwood 6, Alfie Bowtell 3+1.
PETERBOROUGH: Chris Harris 13, Simon Lambert 8+3, Paul Starke 6, Jonas B Andersen (guest) 5, Shelby Rutherford (guest) 1, Luke Ruddick (guest) 1, Rider replacement for Bradley Wilson-Dean.