No silveware but a great meeting for the Panthers

Fours

PantherspromoterGedRathbone billed the biggest-ever PremierLeagueFoursextravaganza as a huge success.

Rathbone was thrilled with how a two-day feast of action at the East of England Showground went last weekend - even though his own club couldn’t provide a silver lining.

Panthers’ quartet of Ulrich Ostergaard, Craig Cook, Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen and Tom Perry were seeded directly into the Foursfinaland took to the track with high hopesoflifting this crownfor the first time since 1998 and securing a first team trophy of any sort since 2007.

That dream was still alive when they became one of three teams to go into the last race still with a chance of glory.

But there was no fairytale finish as skipper Ostergaard dropped to the rear after making the fastest start.

Instead it was Plymouth celebrating as young Aussie ace BradyKurtzblazed to victory.

“It would have been the perfect finish if we could have won the trophy,” admit- ted Rathbone. “But it wasn’t to be in the end.

“I thought it might be our day because we had the lead in the first half of the final, but speedway is the real winner. The whole event was a fantastic success and it gives us something to build on for the future.”

British SpeedwayPromoters’ Association (BSPA) vicechairman, Rob Godfrey, said: “Huge credit has to go to the Peterboroughpromotionand track staff for what they have done with an event that desperately needed a boost.”