THEY'VE done it! After three months of travelling along the road to speedway hell, long-suffering team manager Trevor Swales and his men could enjoy a trip on the highway to Elite League heaven last night after pulling off arguably the most unlikely result of the season.

Forget about two wallopings from the Witches of Ipswich and shut out thoughts of two hammerings at the hands of Lakeside.

Erase the memory of a couple of setbacks in Sussex courtesy of Eastbourne and never again mention a mauling in the Midlands courtesy of Wolverhampton . . . because after seven straight away defeats Panthers have struck gold on their travels.

The sweet smell of success was in the air at Wimborne Road after they collected three priceless points and catapulted themselves off the bottom of the table thanks to a performance packed with passion and class.

And anyone doubting the merits of this triumph should think again. Panthers held the upper hand for the majority of an engrossing meeting thanks to a whole host of splendid individual performances.

"We got exactly what we deserved," declared the jubilant Swales. "We showed what we are capable of doing at Eastbourne on Saturday when we were unlucky to lose, and cemented it with this victory.

"A lot of teams caught us cold early in the season and the defeats took their toll on the riders, but they have steadily grown in confidence.

"We have made a change in bringing Henning Bager back to the club, tweaked a few things behind the scenes and have now claimed our first three-point haul thanks to a magnificent performance involving every single rider."

Classy captain Hans Andersen predictably led the way with a big 16-point haul and received plenty of splendid support as the city side made light of the continuing absence of injured Kenneth Bjerre.

Morten Risager delivered his best Panthers performance to date with paid 11 points from his new home at reserve, while Danny King (9+1) and Bager (7+1) chipped in healthily and consistently.

The fast-learning Claus Vissing delivered a priceless heat 14 triumph at the end of his first trip to Poole while young number eight Ty Proctor - also racing at the Dorset track for the first time - can easily be forgiven his failure to score.

"I can't single one man out," added Swales. "Hans was fantastic and sensible in equal measure, Morten made a huge difference with his points and Danny looked really, really quick.

"Henning just loves being at Peterborough and would run through brick walls for this club while Claus has to be the find of the season.

"And Ty can count himself seriously unlucky not to score a point. He is a talented young lad who will win a lot of races in his career and I just hope he can do it for us."

Andersen provided the perfect start with victory in the opening heat. The Dane always had the edge over Chris Holder and the home star's exit on the final lap gifted the city side a 4-2.