COVENTRY kept their strong late-season run going with maximum points against Peterborough in a highly entertaining Elite League clash at Brandon.
The result spelt heartbreak for the Panthers who just missed out on the play-offs as a result, with Birmingham and Lakeside taking the final two places in the top four along with Poole and Swindon.
Peterborough had cause to rue the Buildbase Bees’ blistering start to the meeting which saw Coventry 18-6 up after four races virtually before the visitors had got started.
Jan Staechmann’s patched-up side then dug in and maintained a glimmer of hope for the draw they needed, but were unable to get quite close enough at any stage.
Bees produced the kind of solid, all-round effort which has been lacking on too many occasions at home in particular, and there was some fine racing to enjoy – including skipper Chris Harris’s two spectacular efforts to pass Krzysztof Buczkowski on the final bends of Heats 6 and 10.
Scott Nicholls also did plenty of work from the back, coming past Tomas H Jonasson to win Heat 4 and then pouncing on a late error by Rory Schlein to snatch victory in Heat 7.
And Aaron Summers produced a terrific effort in Heat 8 when Norbert Kosciuch went for double-points for the Panthers, as with the Panthers having gated on an 8-1 the Australian went around Jonasson and then inside Kosciuch to limit the visitors to a 5-3.
Mechanical failures for Summers in Heat 10 and then Harris in Heat 13 brought the Panthers back within range, especially as Nicholls dropped his only point of the night to Mads Korneliussen in a tight finish to the latter heat.
But Kenni Larsen’s strong outside run in Heat 14 saw him defeat Schlein to end the Panthers’ interest with Josef Franc adding third place over Jonasson.
And Nicholls and Larsen applied the finishing touch with a final 5-1 over Buczkowski after Korneliussen appeared to make a flyer of a start and then stopped within yards of the start-line.
Bees boss Blayne Scroggins said: “It was a perfect performance really, we know the team is capable of this and it’s what we thought could happen this season. It’s a good end to our Elite League campaign at home and we’re really pleased.
“It was always going to be tough for Peterborough and I thought we would have enough for them, but you never under-estimate the opponents when they’re weakened, they keep fighting – look at us at Birmingham. So credit to them and it’s obviously a shame for them but that’s speedway.
“We want as good a place as we can get in the league, and to keep the momentum going for the Knockout Cup. It would be nice to get into the Final and pick up some silverware.â€
BUILDBASE BEES 52: Scott Nicholls 13+1, Kenni Larsen 11, Chris Harris 9, Edward Kennett 6+2, Aaron Summers 5, Josef Franc 5, Michal Szczepaniak 3+1.
PETERBOROUGH 40: Rory Schlein 9+1, Krzysztof Buczkowski 9, Norbert Kosciuch 8+1, Mads Korneliussen 8, Tomas H Jonasson 5+2, Jason Bunyan 1, Michael Jepsen Jensen r/r.
BUILDBASE BEES 52 Chris Harris 3 3 3 0 = 9 Aaron Summers 1 1 3 R = 5 Edward Kennett 2* 1 1* 2 = 6+2 Kenni Larsen 3 0 2 3 3 = 11 Scott Nicholls 3 3 3 2 2* = 13+1 Josef Franc 3 0 1 1 = 5 Michal Szczepaniak 2* 1 0 0 = 3+1
PETERBOROUGH Mads Korneliussen 0 3 2 3 R = 8 Norbert Kosciuch 2 0 2* 4^ 0 = 8+1 Michael Jepsen Jensen Rider Replacement Rory Schlein 1 2 1* 3 2 = 9+1 Krzysztof Buczkowski 0 2 3 2 1 1 = 9 Jason Bunyan 1 0 0 = 1 Tomas H Jonasson R 2 1* 1* 1 0 = 5+2
