Derby defeat means Peterborough Panthers are still seeking their first Premiership points of the season.

There was a welcome return to form for Hans Andersen, who top scored with 12 points for Panthers including three race wins, and Michael Palm Toft was also in double figures at the Adrian Flux Arena.But the Stars proved the more solid side all-round, and their victory was never seriously in doubt after an early burst of race advantages took them ten points up after five races.Reserve Benjamin Basso was Panthers’ only winner in the first six heats, with the Richard Lawson/Lewis Kerr combination recording 5-1s in Heats 3 and 5 to put the home side in control.Panthers did battle away with Chris Harris chasing Niels-Kristian Iversen hard in Heat 4, whilst Basso quickly passed Richie Worrall for a 3-3 in Heat 6, and Andersen got the better of Iversen in a fine Heat 7 scrap.But Kerr and Lawson fended off Harris for their third maximum in Heat 9, and a tactical substitute ride for Michael Palm Toft in the next was neutralised by Josh Pickering.Panthers then rallied from 16 points down and recorded successive 4-2s headed up by Palm Toft and Andersen, with Basso putting plenty of pressure on Lawson in Heat 12.But any hopes of salvaging a league point were extinguished when Iversen won Heat 13 and Kerr and Worrall secured a 5-1 in Heat 14 – which meant Panthers’ own 5-1 in the last race from Andersen and Palm Toft over Lawson and Pickering was merely a consolation.Panthers manager Rob Lyon said: “It was another gating lesson I think, and certainly early doors we looked slack at the start.“The boys weren’t taking advantage of the decent gates which I thought we would have for the first three or four heats, but we did come back into it a little bit later on.“We were hanging on to their shirt tails and at one point I thought we could grab a point, but we just fell short, and it wasn’t to be.“Hans was fantastic tonight, which was good to see, but we just need a few more points, and it is just a few more points, to turn it around. It’s bit of a mystery as to why we’re so inconsistent.”Panthers are back in action at the East of England Arena on Thursday when they face Wolverhampton in a crucial fixture as they bid to finally get off the mark.KING’S LYNN 51: Lewis Kerr 11+1, Richard Lawson 10+2, Niels-Kristian Iversen 10, Josh Pickering 9, Richie Worrall 5+2, Thomas Jorgensen 4, Jack Thomas 2.PETERBOROUGH 39: Hans Andersen 12, Michael Palm Toft 11+2, Benjamin Basso 8+1, Chris Harris 6+1, Scott Nicholls 1, Jordan Jenkins 1, Ulrich Ostergaard 0.