PETERBOROUGH built up a healthy 14-point lead in the first leg of their KO Cup quarter-final with a 52-38 home win over Lakeside.
The T.Balfe Construction Panthers will be confident of defending that margin when they return to Hoddesdon – the planned afternoon meeting on Sunday having been rained-off – after producing a solid team effort to see off a Hammers side who relied firmly on their heat-leaders.
Adam Ellis, Richard Lawson and Aaron Summers won eight races between them but had little support, aside from a couple of good rides from Alfie Bowtell, whereas Panthers suffered just three last places and took their opportunities to record four maximum heat wins.
Bradley Wilson-Dean led the way with his best score for the club this season of paid-13, and Emil Grondal’s paid-10 was his best at home since opening night – also against Lakeside!
Panthers hit the front with 5-1 from skipper Simon Lambert and guest Jordan Stewart in Heat 2, although the Hammers’ heat-leaders dominated the other early races.
But back-to-back 5-1s took Panthers clear, firstly when Wilson-Dean and Michael Palm Toft pulled off one of their trademark maximums over Lawson in Heat 5, and then Grondal and Ben Barker doubled-up in the next over Summers, despite a couple of nervous moments along the way.
Ellis was a clear winner of Heat 7, and there was a surprise in the next when Bowtell shot clear of Lambert and Grondal in a race which Panthers had earmarked for a likely 5-1.
Summers made it six race wins out of nine for Lakeside as Palm Toft quickly relegated Broc Nicol to the back of Heat 9, before Ellis was was upstaged in the tenth as Grondal made a fast start - whilst Barker produced a typically spectacular burst around the boards to join him for a 5-1, extending the lead to 14 points.
Lawson headed up a shared Heat 11 to give the Hammers their seventh race winner, but Wilson-Dean made a smart move on turn three in Heat 12 to dive inside Ellis as Panthers added a 4-2.
Barker and Ulrich Ostergaard both put plenty of pressure on Lawson in Heat 13 but the Lakeside man held firm, although with Summers at the back the Panthers still held a convincing 16-point advantage.
That was trimmed to 14 in the penultimate race as Ellis raced clear of Palm Toft with Bowtell defeating Stewart for third, and the margin remained unchanged after Heat 15 thanks to a splendid ride by Wilson-Dean to make it to the front on lap one after Barker had been squeezed out.
Panthers boss Carl Johnson said: “It’s only half of the job done, we’ve got to go there and finish it, but it was an excellent performance tonight.
“We were solid all the way through and I was really pleased with the way everyone rode, with only three last places all night. We always say don’t run last places and you’ll be there or thereabouts, and then you’ll rack up the heat advantages in the races you do win.
“Obviously we would have liked a couple more points of a lead, but they probably would have liked ten less! We certainly can’t get complacent as there’s a job to finish off.”
PETERBOROUGH 52: Bradley Wilson-Dean 12+1, Emil Grondal 9+1, Simon Lambert 8, Ben Barker 7+3, Michael Palm Toft 7+2, Jordan Stewart 5+2, Ulrich Ostergaard 4+2. LAKESIDE 38: Adam Ellis 14, Richard Lawson 11+1, Aaron Summers 7, Alfie Bowtell 5, Broc Nicol 1, Ben Morley 0, Kyle Newman r/r.