SWINDON 56 PETERBOROUGH 37

DEPLETED Peterborough put up a spirited performance at Elite League play-off hopefuls Swindon on Thursday evening – before eventually slipping to a 56-37 defeat.

The Readypower Panthers trailed from as early as the first race when conceding a 5-1 but it was only in the closing stages where the Robins really pulled away.

They will have been boosted by the performance of Linus Sundstrom though who was in the thick of the action for the second night running. Following on from his heroics at Poole on Wednesday the Swede won his first three rides on his way to an impressive 12-point haul.

Kenneth Bjerre also took the chequered flag twice whilst contributing a 9-point score and Ryan Fisher (9) provided adequate guest cover for the injured Olly Allen.

But with Michael Jepsen Jensen’s rider-replacement rides only mustering a mere two-points, that was really where the match was lost and will be keen to get the young Dane back in the side when they travel to Wolverhampton on Monday.

Peter Kildemand did most of the damage for Swindon with a stunning 16-point tally - featuring in a number of 5-1s during the night as they opened up a 29-19 lead after eight races.

Fisher’s tactical ride win over Troy Batchelor and Todd Kurtz did momentarily reduced the arrears in Heat 9, but another maximum from Kildemand and Batchelor in Heat 12 put some further daylight between the two teams (43-32).

But sadly there was to be no late comeback as Swindon outscored the Panthers 13-5 in the final three races meaning for the second time in as many nights they returned home empty-handed.

SWINDON 56: Peter Kildemand 16, Hans Andersen 11+3, Nick Morris 9+2, Troy Batchelor 8+1, Simon Stead 7+1, Robin Aspegren 4+1, Todd Kurtz 1+1.

PETERBOROUGH 37: Linus Sundstrom 12, Kenneth Bjerre 9, Ryan Fisher 9, Jesper B. Monberg 3+1, Rene Bach 2, Richard Lawson 2, Michael Jepsen Jensen R/R.