GOOD NIGHT FOR PANTHERS

PETERBOROUGH star Richie Worrall was pleased to enjoy a strong Premiership Pairs performance and give the Panthers a boost in a tough season so far.

Worrall dropped just one point in his six qualifying races at Leicester, and with colleague Ben Cook and Rising Star Jordan Jenkins recording several third places, they topped the scoreboard after 21 heats.

The Panthers had to settle for runners-up spot overall after Belle Vue dominated the Final but Worrall was able to reflect on a positive night on one of his old home tracks.

He said: “It was a meeting I was really looking forward to because I do like this track.

“It’s a good bunch of lads and every single race was tough, and I do like having a good race where you can push hard within reason and it’s going to be safe.

“The starts were to my liking, not too deep but plenty of grip on there, and it was one of those nights where everything seemed to work well for me.

“We were the underdogs coming into this, so to have a night like that is good for the Peterborough fans and it gives them a little bit of something to be happy about.”

Meanwhile Sheffield manager Simon Stead believes a slow start cost his side as they went out to Belle Vue in the semi-final.

The Tigers were adrift at the halfway stage before finishing the qualifiers with 19 points from 21 in their last three rides to keep themselves in with a chance.

Stead said: “We conceded that 7-2 in our first one, Tobi (Musielak) came down in the second and then Jack (Holder) burnt a clutch out when there was a bit of messing about on the start line before the race against King’s Lynn.

“We regrouped after that though, we knew it needed a pretty big effort from there and fair play to the boys for turning things around and making it to the Semi.

“Those first few heats cost us a real shot in my opinion because with a few more points from those first three races, we’d have got a better draw.

“The gate choice in the Semi was always going to be important and with gates two and four less favourable shall we say, when Belle Vue got one and three it always gave them a better opportunity of qualifying with the way things were going.”