KING’S Lynn were made to pay for a sluggish start in a 54-36 defeat at local rivals Peterborough on Bank Holiday Monday.
The Poultec Stars appeared to be continuing the malaise which had afflicted them in the closing stages of last week’s loss to Poole as they dropped 12 points down in the space of four races at the East of England Arena.
They did bounce back to give the Panthers plenty to think about in mid-meeting, but a lack of race wins proved their undoing – something club bosses are keen to fix.
In the end, an outstanding display from home second-string Bradley Wilson-Dean had a major influence on the outcome, as the Kiwi raced to a paid maximum from his four programmed rides.
And after a blistering start which had seen the Panthers storm into an 18-6 lead only for Robert Lambert and Michael Palm Toft to give the Stars a foothold with a 5-1 in Heat 5, it was Wilson-Dean who thwarted their comeback attempts.
First he ripped around the outside to defeat the same duo in Heat 6 when Lambert took a tactical substitute ride, and Wilson-Dean then added wins in Heats 8 and 10, both of which ended in Peterborough 4-2s.
That allowed the hosts to extend their lead back to ten points, and they maintained their position in Heat 11 with Rohan Tungate edging out Lambert as the Stars duo got the better of Aaron Summers.
Palm Toft kept the Stars in the hunt for a league point by passing Scott Nicholls for a 4-2 in the next, but that was cancelled out when Hans Andersen headed Lambert in Heat 13 with Tungate taking third.
And the visitors’ hopes were finally ended with as the excellent Palm Toft was outdone by Charles Wright and Summers for a 5-1 in Heat 14 – before Andersen and Tungate put an emphatic gloss on proceedings in the last.
Stars boss Peter Schroeck said: "It was a tough one, and we hung in there but in the end we ran out of ammunition.
"I keep saying it, but we have to pick ourselves up and move on to the next one. Obviously we have a few things going on, and the injuries didn't help either, and Peterborough are starting to dial into their home track and get used to what they need.
"If you came here and saw the racing, the score really doesn't justify it. You will always get a couple of 5-1s against you on a track like this, but it's one of those things. We haven't had a home match yet in the league and hopefully we'll be able to turn it around by next week."
PETERBOROUGH 54: Rohan Tungate 11+1, Bradley Wilson-Dean 11+1, Hans Andersen 10, Charles Wright 7, Scott Nicholls 6, Aaron Summers 5+1, Paul Starke 4+1. KING’S LYNN 36: Michael Palm Toft 12+3, Robert Lambert 10+1, Cameron Heeps 5, Ty Proctor 4, Thomas Jorgensen 3, Kasper Andersen 2, Erik Riss r/r.
