COVENTRY endured a night to forget at the Showground as the Panthers gained some revenge for their early-season Knockout Cup exit with a convincing win.
Bees had one of those nights when they were not really at the races, and at the end of the night they had just one heat win to show for their efforts.
That came from Olly Allen in Heat 12, and the Bees' No.4 was also the only rider to get the better of Niels-Kristian Iversen as he split the home side's Danish duo behind maximum man Kenneth Bjerre in the last race.
But aside from that it was a troubled night as Bees, already without the injured Ben Barker, suffered a host of problems - but none of that should take anything away from an impressive Panthers performance.
Rain in the build-up to the meeting made conditions slightly tricky, which does sometimes favour the away side, but on this occasion it was the Panthers who hit the Bees hard and early.
Things got off to a bad start when Jordan Frampton was disqualified from Heat 1 for clattering team-mate Chris Harris, and in the re-run Henning Bager simply surged away and stopped the clock at 59.8 - bizarrely, two seconds quicker than any other time recorded in the meeting - and with team-mate Bjerre ahead of Harris, the Panthers had the opening they wanted.
Again it was Peterborough from the gate in Heat 2 as Kenneth Hansen and Lee Complin doubled the lead ahead of a gaining Frampton, but the home side showed they could do it from the back in the next race when Allen and Edward Kennett gated for the Bees.
However, Mads Korneliussen spectacularly blasted to the front past both Coventry riders, whilst Karol Zabik chased Kennett for most of the race before making his way through on the run to the line.
Bees managed a share in Heat 4 having again made decent starts only for Iversen to use the outside route, and there was then a fine battle for the minor places with the Bees initially losing out to Hansen but then Rory Schlein and Frampton both managed to come through on the last lap for a 3-3.
The gap was increased to 12-points with a Panthers' 4-2 in Heat 5, Korneliussen taking his second win, leading to the first tactical ride being used in the next race - but Schlein lost out to Bjerre in a hard-fought first two bends, and then had to concentrate on seeing Bager off to make sure at least of four points.
Bees then managed some damage limitation in the next two races, first with Kennett and Allen sharing Heat 7 and Kennett at times looking like he could take the lead from Iversen, who had again gone in front on the back straight.
And then in Heat 8, just as they had been hoping for a heat advantage, Hansen showed a good turn of speed to get the better of Allen, with Frampton holding a good third over Bager.
At this stage, Bees still had a chance of pulling the score back to within six points, but these hopes began to fade when Zabik out-trapped a hard-pressing Schlein to win Heat 9 for a Panthers 4-2, whilst in Heat 10 the Panthers gained a fortunate 4-2 when Kennett, who was set for second place with Allen having passed Bager for third, blew an engine on the final bend.
The second tactical ride was used in Heat 11 but again Iversen got the exit of turn two spot-on to make it around the outside and leave Harris with four points rather than six - although Frampton's third place at least gave Bees a 5-3.
It was eleven Panthers heat winners out of eleven, but the run finally came to an end in Heat 12 with Allen getting the win he deserved - whilst Ricky Wells made a more encouraging start to out-gate Korneliussen, and held him at bay for over half of the race before the Dane surged from fourth to second.
At 45-31, it was going to take a dramatic change of fortune for Bees to make a spectacular comeback, and it simply didn't happen as Bjerre again trapped rapidly in Heat 13 and Iversen, much improved on the early weeks of the season, made his way through the traffic early on, subsequently holding Harris off for a home 5-1.
Another followed in Heat 14 with Kennett on borrowed machinery and Bees unable to make an impression on Zabik and Hansen - and the Panthers probably expected to hit 60 with their unbeaten Bjerre/Iversen duo in Heat 15.
But this time Iversen was blocked out on the first bend, and although Bjerre raced clear for his paid maximum, Iversen couldn't get the better of Allen having moved ahead of Schlein midway through the race.
From a neutral perspective, it was a meeting with plenty of good racing, most of it by a very efficient home team - but nobody in the away pits was remotely neutral, and it is not a match they will want to see a repeat of as the season continues.
