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Elite League A Fixture : Thursday 3rd June 2010
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The Hammers having won the toss and taken gates 1 & 3 in the opening heat picked up the minor places with kenneth Bjerre getting the win. What followed undoubtedly had a major factor in the final outcome of the meeting as the Panthers roared to three concecutive 5-1's to give them a 12 point lead after just four heats.
The Hammers then got into the match with shared heats in the next three races but on each ocassion it was a panthers rider that took the heat victory. Heat 8 saw Kakke come out on a 'Tactical Ride' and although he was unable to beat the impressive Krzysztof Buczkowski he managed second place in front of Robbo to give the Hammers a 5-3 heat advantage. That reduced the deficit from 12 points to 10. The home side, however, immediately struck back with a 4-2 in the next heat although it could easily have led to disaster as Batchelor slowed down in the run in to the finishing line and Adam did well to not only avoid him but also to keep his second place in front of Schlein.
The Panthers extended their lead to 16 points with a maximum 5-1 in heat 10 thanks to the unbeaten combination of Bjerre and Buczkowski. It was then the turn of Lee to don the black and white helmet as he raced to the Hammers first heat win of the night. Unfortunately his riding partner, Kakke, got blocked going into the first bend and even though he caught up the lost ground he was not able to get past the Panthers duo. The resultant 6-3 to the Hammers reduced the Panthers lead down to 13 points.
Following a Panthers 4-2 in the next heat Lee claimed his, and the team's, second race win of the night in heat 12. This shared heat saw the first defeats of the night of Bjerre and Buczkowski. Heat 14 was also shared with JD getting the win and it looked as though the hammers were going to finish with a 4-2 in the final heat but disaster hit coming off the final bend of the final lap when Lee, who was leading ground to a halt with a blown engine. So instead of a 4-2 to the Hammers it turned out to be a home 4-2. That made the final result a 56-39 win for the Panthers.
The 17 point loss should not be considered too badly considering the Hammers were 12 points behind after just four races and if Lee's engine had not blown the extent of the defeat would have been by 13 points meaning that the Hammers had managed to keep things close after those initial 4 heats, 3 of which had resulted in home 5-1's.
In addition the final margin of defeat (17 points) was less than the Panthers had lost to the Hammers at the Arena-Essex Raceway the previous week.
 Related Link: Hammers steady the ship after poor start : Match Details
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