Brilliant Panthers put their play-off hopes back on track with a double whammy victory over Bandits and Devils. Bjerre in brilliant form

PETERBOROUGH 52, BERWICK 38 – (Peterborough 3pts, Berwick 0pts)

The ‘TC Harrison’ Panthers came from behind to blow away the Berwick Bandits in the opening half of an East of England Showground double-header.

Top-scoring duo Lasse Bjerre and Ales Dryml were seen to great effect as the hosts delivered a scorching late run to snap a three-meeting losing streak.

They slammed in four 5-1s and a 4-2 in the final six races to secure an ultimately convincing victory full of terrific racing.

Their challenge was ignited by a maximum from Adam Roynon and Bjerre over the previously unbeaten Bandits reserve Matej Kus in heat 10 which hauled them level.

Dryml led home a 4-2 in the next race to edge Panthers ahead and the then followed in his number one, Bjerre, for another 5-1 in heat 13.

Skipper Ulrich Ostergaard and fast-improving reserve Max Dilger secured victory with another 5-1 in the penultimate race before Bjerre and Dryml signed off in style to ensured maximum points were secured.

Panthers had earlier produced a fast start only to see their advantage wiped out in the space of two races.

A 5-1 from the excellent Kus and David Bellego in heat eight then handed Berwick a four-point lead, but Panthers dug deep to turn the contest around and claim a vital victory.

SCORES

‘TC HARRISON’ PANTHERS: Lasse Bjerre 13+1, Ales Dryml 12+2, Ulrich Ostergaard 9, Adam Roynon 6+1, Max Dilger 5+1, Richard Hall 4+2, Nicki Barrett 3+1.

BERWICK: Matej Kus 13, David Bellego 9+1, Kevin Doolan 8, Claus Vissing 5+1, Steen Jensen 2+1, Alex Edberg 1+1, Rider replacement for Matthew Wethers.

HEATS

1 - Bjerre (61.9), Bellego, Roynon, Vissing (ret). 4-2, 4-2.

2 - Kus (61.8), Dilger, Barrett, Edberg. 3-3, 7-5.

3 - Ostergaard (awarded), Hall, Bellego, Jensen (exc). 5-1, 12-6.

4 - Kus (62.1), Dryml, Doolan, Barrett. 2-4, 14-10.

5 - Bellego (61.6), Vissing, Hall, Ostergaard. 1-5, 15-15.

6 - Doolan (62.2), Bjerre, Roynon, Edberg (fell). 3-3, 18-18.

7 - Dryml (62.9), Doolan, Jensen, Dilger. 3-3, 21-21.

8 - Kus (63.0), Bellego, Roynon, Barrett. 1-5, 22-26.

9 - Ostergaard (63.2), Doolan, Edberg, Hall (ret). 3-3, 25-29.

10 - Roynon (63.1), Bjerre, Kus, Jensen. 5-1, 30-30.

11 - Dryml (62.3), Vissing, Dilger, Bellego. 4-2, 34-32.

12 - Kus (63.5), Barrett, Hall, Jensen. 3-3, 37-35.

13 - Bjerre (62.1), Dryml, Vissing, Doolan. 5-1, 42-36.

14 - Ostergaard (62.4), Dilger, Jensen, Kus. 5-1, 47-37.

15 - Bjerre (62.8), Dryml, Bellego, Doolan. 5-1, 52-38.

PETERBOROUGH 51, PLYMOUTH 31 (meeting abandoned after 13 heats due to curfew, result stands – Peterborough 3pts, Plymouth 0pts)

MAXIMUM man Lasse Bjerre led Peterborough to a second successive victory as they catapulted themselves back into play-off contention.

Bjerre went through the card to notch 12 points from his four programmed rides as the Devils were put to the sword in the second part of a double-header at the East of England Showground.

The meeting was cut short due to the strict curfew in force at Alwalton, but Panthers had done more than enough to wrap up maximum points on a bumper night of racing that saw a total of 28 heats completed in the space of three hours.

Skipper Ulrich Ostergaard may well have joined his countryman Bjerre in claiming a maximum against Plymouth had there been time for heat 14 to go ahead.

He had won his three completed rides while arguably the sweetest success of all came from Richard Hall who powered home in heat 12 to bag a first race win since returning to the club recently.

Panthers, already on a high after brushing aside Berwick earlier in the evening, were dominant throughout against a Plymouth side that managed just one race victory and one heat advantage.

Both arrived in heat 11 when Kyle Newman swept round the outside of Ales Dryml and one-time Panthers man Sam Simota held off Max Dilger for third.

The visitors’ plight was admittedly not helped by the loss of Ben Barker following a frightening heat five smash. The visiting number one was knocked unconscious by the third-bend spill and was withdrawn on medical grounds.

But Newman was already being deployed on a tactical ride in that race and had to play second fiddle to Ostergaard in the re-run. Bjerre later thwarted the Devils’ second tactical ride attempt when beating home Rasmus Jensen in a heat 10 thriller in which the Plymouth got the better of Adam Roynon in a titanic battle for second spot.

“The boys did exactly what I expected them to do,” said team boss Carl Johnson. “That is to win two meetings and pick up all six available points.

“I know we have taken a fair bit of criticism after losing twice at home in recent days, but I remain adamant that we are capable of reaching the play-offs and these results will only help our cause.

“We battled brilliantly against Berwick before getting on top in the final few heats and then dominated against Plymouth.”

Panthers are back in action on Friday when they travel to table-toppers Somerset for a revenge mission. The reigning champions won at the Showground at the weekend.

SCORES

‘TC HARRISON’ PANTHERS: Lasse Bjerre 12 (max), Ales Dryml 9+2, Ulrich Ostergaard 9, Adam Roynon 7+1, Nicki Barrett 6, Richard Hall 5, Max Dilger 3.

PLYMOUTH: Kyle Newman 8, Rasmus Jensen 7+1, James Wright 5+1, Josef Franc 5, Sam Simota 5, Roland Benko 0, Ben Barker 0 (withdrawn).

HEATS

1 - Bjerre (61.8), Roynon, Newman, Barker. 5-1, 5-1.

2 - Dilger (63.6), Simota, Barrett, Benko. 4-2, 9-3.

3 - Ostergaard (63.3), Wright, Jensen, Hall (fell). 3-3, 12-6.

4 - Barrett (64.0), Dryml, Franc, Simota. 5-1, 17-7.

5 - re-run Ostergaard (63.8), Newman (t/r), Hall, Barker (fell/exc). 4-4, 21-11.

6 - Bjerre (63.3), Franc, Roynon, Benko. 4-2, 25-13.

7 - Dryml (63.3), Jensen, Wright, Dilger. 3-3, 28-16.

8 - re-run Roynon (64.0), Simota, Barrett, Benko. 4-2, 32-18.

9 - Ostergaard (64.0), Franc, Hall, Benko. 4-2, 36-20.

10 - Bjerre (63.8), Jensen (t/r), Roynon, Wright. 4-4, 40-24.

11 - Newman (64.0), Dryml, Simota, Dilger. 2-4, 42-28.

12 - Hall (64.3), Wright, Barrett, Simota. 4-2, 46-30.

13 - Bjerre (64.1), Dryml, Franc, Simota (ret). 5-1, 51-31.