Despite providing the majority of the heat winners, Ipswich Witches went down by four points at Peterborough tonight.
The home side's No.1 Bjarne Pedersen clinched victory in the final heat, racing away for victory as Danny King chased.
It was a fine win for the home side, but the Witches will feel they could have grabbed more as they started the meeting very well.
It was a cool and cloudy night in Peterborough as the in-form Panthers looked to go top of the table with victory.
The start of heat one ended with Adam Ellis on the deck after an untidy first turn saw riders bump into each other. It was all four back and the Witches gated well, before both Panthers picked off Paul Starke in a drawn race.
Anders Rowe passed Jordan Palin in the next in another drawn race. Danny King made it three wins on the bounce for visiting riders as the Witches started well.
Ulrich Ostergaard hit the tapes in heat four and was replaced by Palin. Craig Cook sped away as the Witches took a four point lead, with Drew Kemp tucked in third. The Panthers hit back to square the scores in the next.
Cook made it two out of two for him in heat six and the Witches hit their first maximum of the night as King and Jake Allen roared inside Ostergaard down the back straight.
Ostergaard was out again to win heat eight as Andersen passed Kemp to cut the Witches lead to two at 23-25. And the Panthers took the lead in the next with a 5-1 maximum as Cook dropped his first points of the night.
One heat later it was King's turn to drop his first points, but Allen took the win as the Panthers led 31-29 at the break. Gating continued to prove crucial as Ellis defeated Harris in heat 11, although Starke did pass Palin as the scores levelled at 33-33.
It remained level as King kept Palm-Toft at the back in a thrilling heat 12.
The Witches got lucky in the next as Harris packed up when on a 5-1 with Pedersen and Ostergaard again proved the star for the home side, passing Allen as Panthers took a two point lead into the the final heat.
Pedersen off the inside was quickest away and although King chased, the Dane was too fast and clinched the points.
Scorers
Peterborough: B Pedersen 11+1, H Andersen 5+2, M Palm-Toft 5+1, S Nicholls 9+1, C Harris 4, J Palin 1+1, U Ostergaard 12
Ipswich: A Ellis 8, P Starke 4, D King 9+1, J Allen 8+1, C Cook 7+1, A Rowe 6, D Kemp 1
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