Peterborough Panthers demolish King’s Lynn on derby day to open up a four-point lead at the top of the Premiership

Panthers made it six wins on the spin to continue their sensational start to the season – and with nearest rivals Belle Vue being limited to a point from a narrow defeat at Sheffield, it further enhances their table-topping position as they approach the halfway stage of regular fixtures.

It was another outstanding all-round team performance from Rob Lyon’s side with contributions right down the order, led by a paid 12 from skipper Scott Nicholls and Chris Harris, whilst Ulrich Ostergaard dropped just one point at reserve.

The Stars were hit by injuries within their regular septet and were further depleted when guest Rory Schlein crashed out of the meeting in Heat 6, with proceedings heavily delayed whilst his chest and neck pains were attended to.

At that stage Panthers were just four points up, although they had already provided four of the six race wins to indicate they were fully comfortable around the Adrian Flux Arena.

And following the resumption they gave a clinical display of both gating and racing to put the match beyond the home side with four 5-1s in the next six races.

Nicholls and Michael Palm Toft set the ball rolling by outpacing the Stars’ best rider, Richard Lawson, in Heat 7 – and then Danish duo Hans Andersen and Ostergaard produced a memorable Heat 8 effort as both rounded early leader Ricky Wells on successive laps.

Heat 9 was shared thanks to a spectacular ride by Harris who went round Lewis Kerr at the end of the first lap, and then sliced inside Cameron Heeps on lap three to take his second win of the night.

And after Bjarne Pedersen and Andersen squeezed out Lawson in Heat 11, Ostergaard summed up the mood in the camp by refusing to settle for third place in Heat 12 but instead reeling in and passing Heeps to join Palm Toft for another maximum result.

Two wins for Lawson and one for Kerr in the closing stages prevented any further damage, but Panthers already had their four league points well in the bag by that stage.

Lyon said: “The meeting was soured by Rory’s injury, and we just hope he’s okay after going off to hospital.

“But four points was the target, and four points was what we ended up with. When we got going again the boys just turned the screw, and it was a great performance.

“We’re full of confidence and it’s a happy camp. You can’t get away from the fact that King’s Lynn had their problems, but we had to do our job with what was in front of us, and the boys put on a great show again.”

Panthers now have a week away from Premiership action, but they are back at the East of England Arena on Monday July 12 with a rapid return for Sheffield as opponents.

KING’S LYNN 36: Richard Lawson 16, Lewis Kerr 9+1, Cameron Heeps 6, Ricky Wells 2, Connor Mountain 2, Rory Schlein 1+1, Erik Riss r/r.

PETERBOROUGH 54: Scott Nicholls 11+1, Bjarne Pedersen 10, Chris Harris 9+3, Ulrich Ostergaard 9+2, Michael Palm Toft 8+1, Hans Andersen 5+1, Jordan Palin 2.