LAKESIDE Hammers collected another two Elite League points when they thrashed Peterborough 56-37 at the bitterly cold Arena-Essex raceway on Friday night to warm the spirits of the crowd.
The return of Andreas Jonsson after five meetings on the sidelines with hand and wrist injuries underpinned the win with the Swede completing his four rides unbeaten by an opponent whilst there was also a welcome return to form by Joonas Kylmakorpi.
The under-pressure Finn who had struggled to find his true form this term, responded with a heart-to-heart talk with the management by returning a paid 11 points on a night when the Panthers failed to cope with a vibrant home outfit.
Four heat advantages in the first four heats that included maximum points for the Adam Shields and Kylmakorpi pairing in heat 3 followed by the Jonas Davidsson and Lubos Tomicek duo gave the Hammers an 18-6 lead on a night when the visitors posed few challenges.
Hans Andersen though showed his class as he attempted to hold his side together and as early as heat 5, he was donning the black and white helmet colour for double points.
Whilst he carried that to success, Shields and Kylmakorpi comfortably denied Morten Risager to mitigate the dame of the initiative.
Jonsson and Leigh Lanham collected a trap to line 5-1 in heat 6 as the home side continued the romp to lead 26-13 although a controversial exclusion for Lubos Tomicek protected Peterborough from further damage.
The Pole was delivering his challenge around the outside of Claus Vissing, whose wayward line caused the Hammers reserve to fall but he was adjudged the culprit and excluded from the rerun.
The home side's response was to deliver successive 5-1's through Shields and Kylmakorpi then Jonsson and Lanham to forge a 42-21 lead although the visitors did show some fight when Andersen shepherded Rissager around for a 5-1 ahead of Ricky Kling and Jonas Davidsson.
A mistake by Shields allowed Kenneth Bjerre his second win of the night whilst Andersen dictated heat 13 to prevent Jonsson's maximum hopes.
Bjerre was given a tactical ride on the penultimate race of the night and despite a gallant effort to overcome the 15-metres handicap, he just failed to pip Ricky Kling and Kylmakorpi.
Andersen won the nominated heat over Lanham and Shields but the Hammers were able to reflect on their second highest win of the season, just failing to beat their 58-35 success over the same opponents back in March.
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