THE Buildbase Bees made it two vital wins out of two to put breathing space between themselves and the Elite League's bottom two clubs.
Peterborough certainly did not arrive at Brandon to roll over, and Bees knew it would not be straightforward as the Panthers had already taken a shock win at Poole this season.
But Coventry always seemed to just have the edge in a meeting which contained several excellent races on a track which seemed to respond perfectly to a little pre-match rain.
The Panthers called in Bjarne Pedersen to guest for the in-dispute Hans Andersen, and they certainly couldn't complain about his performance with four wins out of five, and virtually all of the visiting riders had their moments.
For Bees, Simon Stead kept up his good form, Olly Allen threw in one of his best-ever Brandon rides and Ben Barker once again showed what an important part of the squad he has become.
Pedersen trapped from gate three to win Heat 1 as skipper Chris Harris found himself at the back initially, having to come past Claus Vissing to take third place, and Heat 2 was also shared with Barker an assured winner over former Coventry man Morten Risager, but Ty Proctor riding well on his Brandon debut to take a comfortable third.
Bees edged in front with a 4-2 in Heat 3 thanks to a fine ride by Stead, who sized up the outside line on Kenneth Bjerre for a lap before making his move on lap two and taking the lead - a total reversal of World Cup fortunes for the two riders.
Bees should have doubled their lead in Heat 4 when Daniel King made an error on turn four to go to the back and Rory Schlein passed Proctor for the lead at the same time, but Barker fell on the third lap and it was fortunate that King only made contact with his bike. Referee Peter Clarke awarded the race as a 3-3 with Schlein already into his last lap at the time.
Stead trapped well in Heat 5 and raced away to an easy win, leaving behind him a frantic battle for the places with Pedersen under pressure from Janniro and unsure of how to protect team-mate Vissing. Billy Janniro went wider and wider to find a way past, and finally took Pedersen at the start of the last lap in another good move.
Bees were four points ahead but again their chance to double the advantage fell away quite literally in Heat 6 when Allen lost control on turn four when he was halfway towards what appeared to be a clear 5-1 with Harris. King, who had been out-of-shape on turn two, was again the beneficiary along with Risager as the Panthers escaped with a 3-3.
Most of the passing had been on the outside, but Bjerre used the inside to good effect to catch Schlein out going into the third lap of Heat 7, and Henning Bager's third place over Andreas Messing narrowed the gap to just two points.
But Bees did manage to bring home a 5-1 in Heat 8 with Allen and Barker, the two riders who had fallen earlier, squeezing out Proctor in the run to the first bend and then Barker holding off the challenge of his former Stoke team-mate Vissing.
Stead was beaten for the first time by Daniel King who made a fast start to Heat 9 and raced clear - but Bees moved eight up in a tremendous Heat 10 which started with them facing a 5-1 reverse with Bjerre and Bager making the start. Allen, however, conjured a remarkable double-overtake around turns three and four on the second lap in a manner reminiscent of Harris - who, having been caught out at the start, salvaged third place on the line from Bager to turn a 1-5 into a 4-2.
Peterborough immediately took that 4-2 back with their own advantage in Heat 11, Pedersen heading home Schlein and Messing being somewhat unfortunate as Vissing picked up drive on his inside and shot across his front wheel as he moved into third place at the end of the first lap.
Stead returned to winning ways ahead of Bjerre in Heat 12, but all the action was at the back with Barker coming off turn two nicely on the last lap to fire himself through on the inside - but Risager responded, and as the two raced for the line Barker lifted slightly and that was enough to hand the Dane third place back.
Bees were happy enough to share Heat 13 although Harris certainly gave it his all to pass Pedersen, and Schlein had to be firm on King going into turn three for the final time.
That left Heat 14 as the chance to secure the meeting, and Bees were initially relieved when the race was pulled back as the Panthers pair made starts judged to be too good by the referee.
However, the re-run saw a repeat performance with Bager and Proctor threatening to set up a nervous last-heat decider - but Janniro wound up the outside to pass Proctor, and then left himself close enough to Proctor to be a distraction - and Barker made his move on the inside going into the last lap for a well deserved 3-3, Janniro even managing to claim the bonus point on the run to the line!
So Heat 15 was academic in terms of the match, and it turned out to be another Pedersen/Harris battle, settled in favour of the Dane, with Stead rounding off a good night's work by beating Bjerre for a third time.
Bees, therefore, move three points clear of the Panthers and six ahead of Wolverhampton, and can hopefully continue to look up the table in the weeks to come - the main interest now concerns their team declaration for the month of August and beyond.
BUILDBASE BEES 48 Chris Harris 1* 3 1 2 2 = 9+1 Olly Allen 2 F 3 3 = 8 Simon Stead 3 3 2 3 1* = 12+1 Billy Janniro 1 1 1* 1* = 4+2 Rory Schlein 3 2 2 1* = 8+1 Andreas Messing 0 0 0 = 0 Ben Barker 3 X 2* 0 2 = 7+1
