COVENTRY were cruelly denied an Elite League point in the dying embers of an eventful clash at the Showground on Thursday.
Despite seeing Kenni Larsen crash out of the meeting in Heat 8, sterling displays from reserves Adam Roynon and Henning Bager in particular kept them in contention throughout the contest.
A share of the final race would have seen the Buildbase Bees within the required range for a point - but Peterborough's Michael Jepsen Jensen got up on the inside of Chris Harris into the final bend, and just snatched third place on the line.
It was tough on the Bees although the Panthers also gave a hard-working display after losing Olly Allen to injury in his second ride.
Reserve Norbert Kosciuch piled up paid-14 in support of Kenneth Bjerre, who dropped his only point to Scott Nicholls as the British Champion made a solid return to action.
Larsen's crash when leading Heat 8 not only ruled him out of the meeting with a groin injury, but it also turned a match-levelling Bees 4-2 into a similar outcome for the Panthers.
But an inspired Roynon kept Bees in touch with a stunning ride to defeat star Scandinavian duo Jepsen Jensen and Linus Sundstrom in the next race.
Kosciuch's last-lap pass on Edward Kennett in Heat 11 enabled the home side to go six points up, and a series of shared heats followed with the Panthers securing match victory despite another fine Roynon win over Sundstrom in Heat 14.
But with the Panthers needing an advantage from the last race to take maximum points, Bees looked set to at least gain some consolation as Nicholls and Harris packed in behind Bjerre - only for Jepsen Jensen to snatch it away right at the end.
Bees manager Blayne Scroggins said: “We wanted at at least a point and it looked like we had it, and we’re all pretty gutted about losing it in the last heat.
“We knew we had to dig deep after losing Kenni, and both Adam and Henning had to take extra rides, but they certainly didn’t let us down. Eddie had a bit of an off-night, and a some of the luck didn’t go our way, but it’s our first meeting back for a while and I think generally we’ve got to be fairly pleased, it’s just disappointing at the end.
“It will be another tough one on Friday, but we’ll rally round and get everyone’s heads up – we need all three points and that’s what we’ll be going for.â€
PETERBOROUGH 49: Kenneth Bjerre 14, Norbert Kosciuch 12+2, Michael Jepsen Jensen 9+2, Linus Sundstrom 9+1, Richard Lawson 5+1, Olly Allen 0, Krzysztof Buczkowski R/R.
BUILDBASE BEES 41: Adam Roynon 11, Chris Harris 9, Scott Nicholls 8+1, Henning Bager 7+2, Edward Kennett 4+1, Kenni Larsen 2+1, Aaron Summers R/R.
