COVENTRY'S biggest Elite League win of the season could not be fully celebrated due to the horrific crash which saw two riders ruled out of the meeting at the half-way stage.
But there was still plenty to admire from the remaining five who ensured that Peterborough were not able to take any advantage of the Buildbase Bees being reduced in numbers.
Despite being without Ryan Sullivan (racing in Russia) and being 16-points down after Heat 6, the Panthers could have made life difficult for the Bees when Simon Stead and Robbie Kessler were both ruled out, causing the home team to go into two races with just one rider.
However, Bees had three riders scoring maximums - captain Chris Harris, new No.1 Hans Andersen against his former club, and Olly Allen, who went through the card for the first time in the Elite League.
Billy Janniro was back on the pace too, but once again it was Ben Barker who was the talk of the terraces with a series of daring rides which helped him to paid 15 for the second time this season at Brandon.
The combination of Andersen and Allen clearly works, and they got Bees off to a flyer in Heat 1 as Lukas Dryml endured a nightmare, losing power, then regaining it, then almost falling, and eventually coming to a stop after three laps.
And any fears about the Bees' reserve strength were dispelled in Heat 2 with Barker engaging in a no-holds-barred duel with Claus Vissing, moving around the outside into the lead at the start of the last lap. And there was also an encouraging third place from Kessler, who fended off the constant pressure of Henning Bager for a deserved point.
A further 4-2 followed in Heat 3 with Kenneth Bjerre managing to split Harris and Janniro, before Daniel King became the first visiting race winner in Heat 4, heading home Stead - but the action was at the back with Barker refusing to give up, and eventually snatching third place from Vissing on the run to the line.
Bees marched on with maximum points in an awarded Heat 5 after Dryml fell on the third lap, guest Kozza Smith doing well to lay his machine down and prevent a more serious accident.
And Heat 6 saw a perfectly worked maximum with Andersen clamping King on the inside to allow Allen the run around the outside, and then throttling back to protect the 5-1 position.
However, a setback was just around the corner, and it turned out to be a major one in Heat 7 with Bjerre taking a tactical ride. Initially it looked good news for Bees with Stead trapping and holding off an outside challenge from Bager as Bjerre was squeezed out and Kessler was in the equation too - but Stead's machine blew completely on the back straight, and there simply wasn't space for all three of the other riders to avoid him.
It was Kessler who ploughed into the back of Stead, sending both riders down heavily, and it was to some relief that both were able to walk off the track, although there were clearly injuries to be attended to.
Both took trips to hospital, Stead with a suspected broken collarbone, and Kessler with a possible broken bone in his hand, and also further damage to an existing arm injury.
The short-term position saw Bees having to juggle their resources to make sure they got a win out of the meeting, and the Panthers saw a glimmer of hope when Bager gated to join Bjerre for a big 8-1 over Barker in the re-run.
However, Bees were in no mood to let things slip and Allen dominated Heat 8 ahead of Dryml, who had his hands full in fending off Barker.
Heat 9 produced another 4-2 as well as a marvellous battle between King and Janniro, who exchanged places on at least three occasions before second place was settled in favour of the Panthers captain.
But Andersen and Allen then completed a faultless night as a pairing in Heat 10 with Bjerre strangely out of touch and unable to make any impression after dropping behind Vissing in the early stages.
Seventeen points down, the Panthers threw King into Heat 11 as a tactical substitute with the Bees only able to field Barker, and when Dryml made the start it looked like they could be halfway towards a big result. However, as King closed in on Barker, the Coventry reserve found the best way to remove that pressure - he cut back inside a surprised Dryml on the third lap and went clear for a brilliant win, the Panthers then swapping places as a consolation.
King was correctly awarded four points for second place as, technically, he had beaten the non-competing Stead - it would be wrong to penalise a team when the opposition is only able to field one rider!
Bees elected to rest Barker from Heat 12 and Harris made no mistake to bring home a shared heat, and the switch worked well because Andersen sent King wide on turn two in Heat 13 and Barker, who had initially been battling with Smith, got a fast line off the corner and came through for a paid win.
King took some revenge on Barker with a win in Heat 14, and the Panthers captain couldn't be denied that as he was by far the most impressive of the visiting riders.
But he couldn't do anything to stop the Coventry top two in Heat 15 as Andersen and Harris made it from the start, Andersen hugging the inside to allow Harris his favoured outside line and the race win.
An entertaining meeting, and a win achieved at a cost - leaving Bees likely to once again be fielding a patched-up team over the coming meetings.
BUILDBASE BEES 59 Hans Andersen 3 2* 3 3 2* = 13+2 Olly Allen 2* 3 3 2* = 10+2 Chris Harris 3 2* 3 3 3 = 14+1 Billy Janniro 1 3 1 1* = 6+1 Simon Stead 2 X = 2 Robbie Kessler 1 N = 1 Ben Barker 3 1* 1 1 3 2* 2 = 13+2
PETERBOROUGH 36 Kozza Smith 1 1 0 = 2 Lukas Dryml R X 2 1* = 3+1 Kenneth Bjerre 2 6^ 0 2 0 = 10 Karol Zabik Rider Replacement Daniel King 3 1 2 4# 1 3 1 = 15 Henning Bager 0 0 2* 0 1* = 3+2 Claus Vissing 2 0 0 0 1 0 = 3
