The Coventry Bees tonight visited the East of England Showground in Peterborough, a fast sweeping track that very much holds a home team advantage.
The 1st heat appeared to be following this pattern as the Panthers scored a maximum 5-1 heat advantage before the Bees pairing of Kennet and Vissing each overtook the rider Korneiliussen to level the scores.
The meeting was so remain close with, over heats 5 to 8, a heat advantage for one side was cancelled out the very next race to leave a heat 8 scoreline of 24-24.
Two 4-2 heat advantages in heats 9 and 11 for the Bees gave them a 31-35 advantage which they capitalised on in heat 13 with a maximum heat victory between Rory Schlien and Chris Harris. This followed some initial drama for the home side when their rider Kenneth Bjarre suffered an engine failure at the startline and was excluded. In came reserve rider Lee Complin as a replacement but his efforts were to no avail.
A drawn heat 14 left the Bees holding an 8 point advantage at 38 points to 46 and the meetign won, however points in heat 15 were still vital with the 2nd leg at Brandon tomorrow night, weather permitting.
A 5-1 heat win for the home side left the Bees with a 4 point margin to protect with the final score 43-47, leaving the tie finely poised.
Bees scorers on the night were:
1. Chris Harris 1, 3, 3, 3, 0 = 10
2. Ben Barker 0, 1, 2, 1 = 4
3. Oliver Allen 2', 3, 0, 1' = 6+1
4. Edward Kennett 3, 1, 3, 3 = 10
5. Rory Schlein 3, 2, 3, 2', 1 = 11+1
6. Jordan Frampton 3, 0, 1, 2, 0 = 6
7. Filip Sitera 0, 0, 0 = 0