Worrall shines, but Peterborough Panthers ran out of luck in Leicester

The Crendon Panthers put in a battling display in far from ideal conditions in the East Midlands, with former Lions rider Richie Worrall outstanding and Ben Cook showing his true potential at reserve.

And whilst their league scoresheet remains blank at this stage, the narrow defeat gives them a strong chance of the aggregate bonus point when the sides meet at the East of England Arena later in the season.

The main issue, of course, is the lack of a No.1, with the rider replacement facility bringing in just four points for the Panthers on a night when both sides suffered from a succession of mechanical problems.

A heavy late-afternoon downpour made the going tough, and there were few major racing highlights, but Worrall’s three wins in the second half of the meeting showed his mastery of the circuit, and Cook was on occasions electric from the start.

Indeed, Panthers would have had a 5-1 in Heat 2 only for the unlucky Jordan Jenkins to break down mid-race, and there was a frustrating disqualification for Benjamin Basso in Heat 5 when Richard Lawson appeared to slow in front of him on the back straight, with the Dane taking a heavy fall as a result.

Leicester notched the first 5-1 of the night through the fast-gating Justin Sedgmen and Max Fricke who defeated Niels-Kristian Iversen in Heat 6, which put them five points ahead.

Four shared races followed with Iversen striking mechanical trouble in Heat 9 as Cook impressively defeated Lawson and Chris Harris.

But the Australian was timed out of Heat 11 due to problems at the start, and a shock 5-1 from Jake Allen and Nick Morris put the Lions into a nine-point lead.

However, the Panthers came fighting back with Worrall and Cook combining to see off Lawson in Heat 12, leaving the scores at 38-33, and the gap looked set to come down further in Heat 13 only for Fricke to storm inside Iversen heading into the last lap.

Former Panthers racer Harris effectively secured the win for the Lions by taking the flag in Heat 14, and another 3-3 followed in the last race with Worrall imperious out-front on his old home track.

Manager Rob Lyon said: “It was a difficult meeting with the track being as it was, and they did well to get it on really.

“They always say when your luck is down, your luck is down, and we had none tonight. We lost probably four points in scoring positions – Leicester did have problems as well, but maybe we had a little bit more than them.

“Four points from R/R at No.1, you can’t expect to win matches in that sort of scenario, but it is what it is and I thought the boys battled hard and five points is not insurmountable to pull back for the bonus point at the other end.

“I had no doubts about Ben Cook, I thought he would be another Ben Basso at reserve on that sort of average, and I think he’ll blossom and improve this year as a rider.

“This is Richie’s specialist track, Leicester is a place he excels at, and I expected him to be our top scorer tonight if I’m honest, and he did a great job.”

Panthers are back in action at the East of England Arena on Monday when they host defending champions Belle Vue, with Michael Palm Toft making a return as guest at No.1.

LEICESTER 47: Justin Sedgmen 10+1, Max Fricke 9+2, Chris Harris 9+1, Nick Morris 7+1, Richard Lawson 6, Jake Allen 4+1, Dan Thompson 2.PETERBOROUGH 42: Richie Worrall 14+1, Ben Cook 10+2, Niels-Kristian Iversen 7, Hans Andersen 5+1, Benjamin Basso 5+1, Jordan Jenkins 1+1, Nicki Pedersen r/r.