PETERBOROUGH suffered more disappointment on the road with a 53-37 defeat at King’s Lynn on Monday.
The Crendon Panthers certainly had their moments at the Adrian Flux Arena and trailed by just six points with three heats remaining, before falling adrift in the closing stages.
But again it was a tale of the team not clicking as a full unit, despite a vintage display from Scott Nicholls, who took seven rides for paid-15, whilst Jason Garrity showed up well on his debut with paid-10.
At the other end of the scale, though, former Stars rider Ty Proctor failed to score – having been superb on his last visit to the venue with Panthers – and skipper Hans Andersen pulled out after two rides as his difficult injury comeback continues.
Nicholls and Garrity pulled back an early four-point deficit with a brilliant 5-1 over Craig Cook in Heat 4 after Stars riders won the first three races – with Erik Riss and former Panthers man Michael Palm Toft showing up well.
The home duo each won their first three rides, with Palm Toft heavily involved in a mid-meeting burst which saw the scores go from 12-12 to 31-37 in the Stars’ favour as they carded three 5-1s in four races.
But Panthers, to their credit, hit back as Nicholls combined with Charles Wright to end Palm Toft’s run in Heat 10, Nicholls having come in after Andersen was withdrawn with a wrist injury.
Garrity and Rohan Tungate worked hard to keep Lewis Kerr at the back of Heat 11, and Panthers were very much in play for a league point at least when Nicholls and Wright did it again in Heat 12 after Riss crashed out heavily on turn one.
At 39-33, the match was still open, but the Stars edged a 4-2 out of Heat 13, Nicholls splitting guest Chris Harris and Cook – before two 5-1s in the last two races put it out of reach.
Jorgensen and Kerr secured the win for the Stars in Heat 14, before Cook and Harris got the better of Tungate and the hard-working Nicholls in the last.
Panthers boss Johnson said: “It was another tough night, and again not enough riders were performing. We normally have two or three riders performing on an evening, and it happened again tonight.
“We were in the meeting, then we were out of it, then we were back in, and it’s difficult at the moment.
“Losing Hans was disappointing, plus Ty not scoring after he scored 12 here last time. But we keep fighting away, and the result didn’t really reflect how we rode. It’s just disappointing and frustrating.
“Scott struggled last time he was here but he rode really well tonight, and Jason performed really well in his first meeting, I can’t ask for any more from him.”
Panthers head to Ipswich on Thursday in their penultimate match of a marathon away sequence, with their return home set for September 5 against Belle Vue – who are fully involved in a tight scrap for play-off places.
KING’S LYNN 53: Craig Cook 11, Michael Palm Toft 10, Erik Riss 9, Chris Harris 8+2, Lewis Kerr 7+2, Thomas Jorgensen 6+1, Simon Lambert 2. PETERBOROUGH 37: Scott Nicholls 13+2, Charles Wright 8+1, Jason Garrity 7+3, Rohan Tungate 5, Aaron Summers 4, Ty Proctor 0, Hans Andersen 0.