PANTHERS OFF THE BOTTOM

PETERBOROUGH moved off the bottom of the Sports Insure Premiership table with both match and aggregate points in a dramatic conclusion against Sheffield.

The Panthers won 53-37 and finished with a 5-1 from Vadim Tarasenko and Niels-Kristian Iversen in Heat 15 as Tai Woffinden suffered his only defeat of the night.

Both sides saw their Rising Stars ruled out after Dan Gilkes and Jordan Jenkins crashed in Heat 2, and that reduced the Tigers to five riders as No.1 Tobiasz Musielak was missing after a crash in Poland on Sunday.

But reserve Patryk Wojdylo racked up 13+2 for the Panthers with Tarasenko adding 12+1 and Iversen 9+3, whilst the visitors lacked support for Woffinden’s sensational 18+1 haul.

Peterborough manager Rob Lyon said: “It shows what a settled team can do around here, and I’m really pleased for them.

“I’m pleased for the fans too – it’s nice to get a win under our belts, and it was great to get the aggregate point as well and not just the win.”

Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “You’re always on the back foot when you’re starting with R/R for your No.1.

“It was a great effort from Tai – but he can’t do it on his own. He needed a couple of others to step up but we were let down in some areas, and that’s disappointing.”

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Photo credit: JEFF DAVIES