It’s a Showground shambles

He ripped up the team. He ripped up the track. But he couldn’t rip upthe formbook.

Panthers promoter Ged Rathbone’s radical rebuild failed to reap rewards as a Workington side, without a previous win on the road all season, triumphed at the Show ground last Friday night.

The score line, which knocked them out of the playoff places for the first time all season, actually flattered Panthers given they were reliant on a tactical ride to drag themselves back into contention from being cast 12 points adrift after just four races.

It was the sort of mountain that Sir Edmund Hillary would have struggled to scale, let alone a team regularly struggling on their owns hale.

They did eventually reduce their arrears to three points thanks to a 5-1 from star duo Kenneth Bjerre and Craig Cook in heat 13, but any hopes of a fairytale fightback were ended when Rasmus Jensen inspired a Workington 4-2 in the penultimate race.

Bjerre’s first Panthers appearance since 2013 – and his first Premier League outing since 2003 – produced a double-figures score. His dozen points made him the secondhighest Panthers scorer behind number one Craig Cook, whose 16+1 haul was boosted by his successful doublepoints mission in heat six.

Anders Thomsen also delivered two race victories on his way to nine points, but the remaining four members of the side could manage only eight between them as they came up short.