1983: Pullen put in some decent displays... when he could be bothered to turn up
Panthers' press officer and historian Dick Butler has reached 1983 in his trawl through the speedway archives...
Panthers' press officer and historian Dick Butler has reached 1983 in his trawl through the speedway archives...PANTHERS lost one top rider but gained another ahead of this campaign.
Andy Hines waved goodbye after six years at the Showground to try his luck at British League level with Ipswich, but Panthers moved quickly to draft in Oxford ace Ashley Pullen as a replacement.
There were no complaints about the majority of Pullen's performances when he did appear as he topped the averages, but a couple of no-shows blotted his copybook and led to a long suspension.
Panthers finished 12th in the National League standings and failed to register a single away success for the second successive season.
They managed just one draw on the road which came at Stoke.
WEYMOUTH WRECKERS
Panthers started the season well until bogey team Weymouth inflicted a 49-47 Showground defeat in mid-April.
A KO Cup first round exit at the hands of Mildenhall followed before Dave Allen and Pullen were knocked out in the qualifiers at the National League Pairs Championship.
SCOTS TOO HOT
Panthers embarked on the traditional Scottish tour made up of meetings at Edinburgh on Friday, Berwick on Saturday and Glasgow on Sunday – and returned south with their tails between their legs after three drubbings. The 37 points they managed at Edinburgh was their highest return.
Panthers' misery was compounded when they threw away a 14-point lead to be held to a draw by Middlesbrough on their return to Alwalton.
RAIN PAIN
Panthers lost five successive matches due to the British weather in the space of nine soggy days during May – two at home and three on the road
MAUGER HEADACHE
Kym Mauger, the son of legendary six-time world champion Ivan, made a cameo appearance for the city club.
He stepped in to the breach when Pullen failed to arrive for an away meeting at Exeter and scored four of the Panthers points during a disastrous 74-22 defeat.
Ian Barney was the only visiting rider to win a race that night and top-scored with a paltry seven points. Panthers conceded a dozen 5-1s during a then-record reverse.
MORE MISERY
That drubbing was not alone in a difficult season on the road. Panthers also got tanked 66-30 at Crayford, 65-31 at Weymouth and 64-32 at Rye House.
HOME HIGHS
Panthers gave Exeter a dose of their own medicine by dishing out a 67-27 home thumping to the West Country side. A 64-32 win over Milton Keynes and a 63-33 success against Glasgow were also memorable.
BANNED
The Exeter defeat wasn't the only time that Pullen failed to appear.
He was suspended by promoter Danny Dunton for not showing up for an away meeting at Glasgow.
It was a stance which saw him miss most of the club's September action and also cost him his place in the National League Riders' Championship.
Pullen was also fined 50 by the meeting referee. He returned for the club's final four meetings of the season but his Panthers career soon ended.
VERY AVERAGE
Despite his unreliability, Pullen still managed to top the club's averages with an impressive 8.74 figure.
Allen (8.09) and Mick Hines (7.22), provided the majority of the support with Andy Buck ending on 6.44.
Youngsters Neil Cotton and Barney continued their improvement while Mike Spinks managed a 5.37 return in his first season with the club after moving from Crayford.
Panthers v Eastbourne preview in tomorrow's Evening Telegraph.
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