COVENTRY ended their long barren run at the Showground with their first win at the venue for five and a half years.
Just as in September 2003, it was a Knockout Cup tie in which they triumphed, and whilst the overall contest still has fifteen races to run, this was an impressive demonstration of the strength which exists within the Buildbase Bees ranks.
Ten heat winners at any away venue is always a notable achievement, and it was particularly pleasing that they were so fast from the start for the majority of the meeting. Ironically, they both started and ended proceedings on the receiving end of 5-1s, but what happened in between must surely have pleased the turnout of Coventry supporters who made the trip on a chilly and blustery evening.
A pre-match rain shower clearly had little effect on track conditions as Panthers' No.1 Kenneth Bjerre shot away with the opening race, winning it in near-track record time, although what was rather more surprising was the fact that his team-mate Ales Dryml wasn't far behind for a 5-1, ahead of Chris Harris and Ben Barker.
But the Bees recovered well from that early setback, and Jordan Frampton impressively gained his first race win for the club with a smooth effort in Heat 2, although Filip Sitera's return to the side was destined to be a pointless one.
Bees were back on terms with a 5-1 in Heat 3, an eventful race which saw Claus Vissing lead from the start only for Edward Kennett to squeeze around the outside at the end of the first lap. The four riders remained close, but at the start of lap three, Vissing spluttered to a halt and Olly Allen had to take some smart avoiding action, just managing to re-gather momentum to hold second place ahead of Mads Korneliussen.
Rory Schlein was a clear winner of Heat 4 and Sitera held second place for a time before Niels-Kristian Iversen drove through hard on the inside, which also generated a gap for the lively Danish youngster Rene Bach to follow him through.
But the run of Bees winners continued in Heat 5 as Harris took the advantage from Korneliussen, and Barker got the better of Vissing for third place in the early stages before Vissing's machine expired once more before a lap had been completed.
That sparked a trading of 4-2s over a five-race period, the Panthers initially getting themselves back on terms in Heat 6 with Bjerre heading home Schlein and Allen - but Bees regained the advantage in the next thanks to a strong defence of the lead by Allen, who withstood every overtaking attempt from Iversen, the Dane having blocked off Kennett in the early stages just when the ex-Eastbourne man was threatening to set up another 5-1.
Bees' gating was to the fore again in Heat 8 as Barker and Sitera shot out of the traps, but on this occasion they were to be overhauled by an inspired Dryml, who used the inside to good effect to make his way from third to first - and then Bach wound up the outside run to round Sitera on lap three to make it 24-24.
Bees, however, were back in front as Schlein held off Korneliussen to win Heat 9 and Frampton scored a useful third place ahead of the unhappy Vissing.
And with the Panthers tracking their strongest pairing in Heat 10, Kennett produced another rapid start to lead Bjerre and Dryml, Allen's outside run just taking him too wide off the second bend and leaving him at the back for the first time.
Heat 11 was a thriller, starting with Iversen leading Harris with the action at the back as Barker and Lee Complin traded paintwork, passing and repassing on several occasions before Barker moved clear. At the same time, Harris began to wind in Iversen and after twice going right to the fence, he cleverly switched back off the last bend and snatched the win on the line.
That put Bees four-clear, a lead they maintained in Heat 12 when Bach crashed spectacularly, but fortunately without injury, on the third bend, Korneliussen gaining his first win of the night in the re-run.
But it all went wrong for the Panthers before the start of Heat 13 with Bjerre suffering machine trouble on the start-line and being timed out of the race. The 15-metre option was not taken so Complin took the replacement ride, and Harris and Schlein launched themselves clear with Iversen only passing his team-mate on the last lap.
Kennett completed another highly impressive showing with a clear win in Heat 14 as Bees maintained their advantage, but there was a late comeback from the Panthers when Bjerre and Korneliussen hit the front in the last race - and with Schlein and Harris almost falling over each other to make a passing move, the Panthers held on for a 5-1 to cut the gap to four points.
But that was only a minor setback at the end of the meeting for the Bees, as the work done in the previous races had been of a consistently high standard, and they will now look to professionally round out the tie at Brandon on Friday.