The city side produced a sparkling performance to defeat Swindon 52-41 in a televised battle at the Showground – and Frost liked what he saw in the first home meeting since his takeover was completed.

He said: "The riders all rode out of their skins and I am delighted with the result.

"Every single one of them was fantastic and it is great to see the boys riding as a team again.

"Peterborough is on the way up and with the backing of the fans, we will make it into a big club again."

Skipper Ryan Sullivan (11+1) spearheaded a strong Panthers display against a set of visitors weakened by the loss of influential Mads Korneliussen after a third heat crash.

Stand-in team manager Wayne Swales continued his 100 per cent record when taking charge of Panthers.

He has never lost a meeting when deputising for his father Trevor, who was late arriving due to attending a funeral.

Wayne said: "It was massively important to get a win on the board both for Rick and for the fans – and we managed that thanks to a great all-round performance.

"It is never nice to see a team lose a rider to a bad crash, but we could only beat what was put in front of us and we did that convincingly.

"Our season starts here and the big job is to get ourselves away from danger which I am sure we can manage if riding like we did last night on a regular basis.

"Swindon came here looking to win but we showed what we are all about. Everyone seems to think that we are going to roll over, but they are very much mistaken."

Panthers are back in Alwalton action on Thursday when Eastbourne provide the opposition before table-topping Poole visit on Monday.

The club were due to learn today whether Polish rider Karol Zabik will be fit enough to return for either of those meetings. Squad man Ty Proctor, who scored paid seven last night, is on stand-by for Thursday.

» Match report