BEN Barker's remarkable recovery from a high-speed Heat 12 crash was one of several talking points as the Buildbase Bees had to settle for a Bank Holiday draw against Eastbourne.
As has so often been the case in recent weeks, Barker provided many of the meeting's talking points, and he was involved right to the last race before having to watch team-mate Chris Harris securing the point after Barker had been disqualified.
It was a point that had appeared unlikely at times, although strong late comebacks from the Bees have been the norm at Brandon this season - but by the same token, it was undoubtedly two dropped given pre-meeting expectations.
Exactly how damaging that turns out to be will only be known in the next fortnight, but it does mean that Peterborough now need positive results at both Belle Vue and Poole - even if the Bees take nothing themselves at Arlington next Monday.
It was clear early on that the Eagles were out to put on a much-improved show from their home defeat to Poole on Friday, with Lewis Bridger and Simon Gustafsson comfortably following Harris home for a share in Heat 1, and Daniel Nermark then showing his own reserve prowess by riding four near-perfect laps to hold off Barker in Heat 2, with Ricky Wells third.
Olly Allen hit the front in Heat 3 before Davey Watt fell on the third bend, Edward Kennett laying his machine down, and although Allen took care of the re-run it was Cameron Woodward who came to the Eagles' rescue with a fine ride to re-pass Kennett and split the pairing.
And then Bees completely lost their gating gloves, Rory Schlein elbowed aside by Lukas Dryml in Heat 4 with Barker again denied by Nermark, and then Allen and Kennett on the receiving end against Gustafsson and Bridger as the Eagles advanced into an improbable six-point lead.
Harris was a comfortable winner of Heat 6 with Jordan Frampton earning a good point by passing Ricky Kling, and another 4-2 followed in the next with Schlein holding the inside kerb to go from third to first, and Wells slipping inside Woodward on the second lap for third place.
But there were problems for Bees ahead of Heat 8 with Barker forced onto Kennett's machine, and as he lifted out of the start Gustafsson and Nermark raced clear, with Frampton falling on the second lap. Barker reeled in the pairing, though, and managed to overcome Nermark on the last lap, at least stopping the Eagles from collecting a 5-1.
Another 4-2 went the visitors' way in Heat 9, this time after Dryml fell under Allen's challenge on the third bend with the Coventry man disqualified, and in the re-run the Czech fended off every attack from Kennett, who recovered from a poor start to pass Kling for second place.
Harris was nearly shocked by the up-and-down Woodward in Heat 10, being caught out on the first lap before re-passing him on the second, whilst Wells kept close to Watt throughout the race but was unable to make it through.
It left Bees six points down going into the interval, and their prospects hardly improved in Heat 11 despite a fantastic start by Barker from the outside - but Schlein was relegated to last place with Bridger and Gustafsson, riding a borrowed bike himself, happy to share the points.
Then came the drama of Heat 12 with Nermark appearing to lose control on the inside of Barker as the two riders contested the third and fourth bends, and there was immediately a scene of carnage with men and machinery strewn on the track, and three air-fence panels destroyed.
Barker's rapid return to the pits after the accident was little short of miraculous, and a tribute to speedway air-fences, whilst Nermark required lengthier attention on-track - and although he took a ride back to the medical room, the information was that he did not require a hospital visit.
There was no holding back for Barker in the re-run, on his spare bike, as he went into that same third and fourth bend three abreast with Allen and Watt, with the Bees riders overcoming the Eagles skipper in fine style to slash the gap to two points.
But Heat 13 was to go the visitors' way with Bridger and Dryml flying from the start and Dryml doing all he could to deny Harris as Bridger went away. On lap three, Harris clearly had momentum to get around Dryml only to be hit on turn two - the race could have been stopped at that point regardless of whether or not Harris came down - but as it was, the action continued and an angry Coventry captain finally moved into second place on the last lap, too late to do anything about Bridger.
But there was still Heat 14 to come, clearly with Woodward offering the main threat to another Kennett/Barker 5-1, which they duly gated on, only for Woodward to do the hard work and split them with an inside move on turn four. But then the Eagles rider clipped Barker's rear wheel on the second lap, sending him out wide, and Kennett took advantage of the error to move back into second place and set up a last-heat decider with the scores at 42-42.
The perfect finale would have been for Barker to team up with Harris for another 5-1 in Heat 15 - but it wasn't to be on this occasion as although Harris made the start from the outside, Barker jumped it and the referee kept the race running as he had dented his own prospects.
There was still a chance, though, because Bridger and Gustafsson did not get things entirely right exiting turn two which allowed Barker an opening into the third bend - he took it, but the gap was seemingly closing, which sent Bridger into Gustafsson, both down, red disqualification light on and exit Barker.
Gustafssson was able to take the re-run after treatment, and this turned out to be a calmer affair with Harris never under serious pressure for the win which gave the Bees a point from the meeting.
The two points lost may not be hugely damaging in terms of the Elite League overall, although that won't be known until later in September, but the number of home points dropped this season was one of the main talking points after the meeting - as this hugely eventful campaign continues.
BUILDBASE BEES 45 Chris Harris 3 3 3 2 3 = 14 Jordan Frampton 0 1 F = 1 Olly Allen 3 1 X 3 = 7 Edward Kennett 1 0 2 2* = 5+1 Rory Schlein 0 3 0 0 = 3 Ricky Wells 1* 1 0 = 2+1 Ben Barker 2 1 2 3 2* 3 X = 13+1
