Berwick Bandits v Edinburgh Monarchs

Track watering had been by natural causes rather than Berwick?s famous bowser, but it left a circuit which wasn?t far from unrideable.

This had more effect on some riders than others, and all the Scotwaste Monarchs gritted their teeth and tried to get on with the job.

We trailed for the majority of the match, twice going six down, but a late match burst took us into a 4-point lead with one race to go.

Sadly in the decider we could not use Ryan Fisher, who had won his last two races and beaten Berwick?s top two, due to the depressingly stupid eligibility rule. So Thomas and Matthew went out to do battle, Thomas made the gate but could not stop McGowan and Makovsky coming past.

Thomas then crashed heavily coming off the fourth bend, slamming into the fence, but the tough cookie was OK.

So we gained a point at a track where it seems unlikely anyone else will have success ? hopefully.

In the opening heat Derek Sneddon hung on to second place behind McGowan, just holding off the pressing Clews, while our guest Pepe Franc floundered a long way behind.

It looked momentarily that we might go ahead in heat 2 with Andrew and Aaron making the gate, but Aaron seemed to get filled in on the third corner and dropped to the back.

Andrew struggled as well on the slippery surface and just hung on for the win.

Makovsky won heat 3 in what proved to be the slowest time of the night and things were looking farcical at this stage. Thomas and Mathew shared it while Magosi was all over the place.

Ryan flew to the front round the first turn of heat 4 ? and straight into the fence. He was excluded, but Aaron did very well to take the rerun with a steady ride.

We managed to share heat 5 behind Makovsky, though Franc was struggling again and only just beat Magosi.

Ryan tried hard to hold McGowan and Clews down the back straight in heat 6, but he was outpaced to give Bandits a 21-15 lead.

We quickly regained that lost ground through Thomas and Matthew who headed Bandits? weak third pairing.

Heat 8 was an important one which Derek led, but he was badly unsettled by lifting on the second corner of lap 3. This allowed Smith through, and on the last corner Clews swept by as well.

Perhaps at that moment many thought we were going under, but the team fought back.

Ryan did well to beat Makosky in heat 9, the Bandits? heat leader being baulked early in the heat by partner Magosi. Inspired by that, Thomas had his best ride to lead McGowan home, but Matthew Wethers could not hold off Clews.

That was the end of the rides of the very effective Clews.

Again we took advantage of Berwick?s third pairing in heat 11, Derek and Pepe taking a 5-1 to level the scores. Franc worked hard to keep Scott Smith at bay. Scores now level with four heats left.

Unfortunately Thomas off gate 4 in heat 12 tried a rash burst round the outside and got caught between Franchetti and the fence. He was excluded and although Andrew held second in the rerun, we were now two behind.

We made our big move over the next two heats. Ryan led all the way in heat 13 with Pepe Franc working hard while Aarnio pressed from third with McGowan trapped at the back. On the final lap Aarnio passed Franc but Pepe reversed the positions on the final turn as the Finn went wide.

That was an unexpected 5-1, and Matthew took heat 14 with a fine ride ahead of Smith. Aaron took the point and we were four ahead going into that vital last heat.

Berwick Bandits v Edinburgh Monarchs

"Following the welcome change of the Scottish Open on Friday the team embark on the very important trip to Berwick on Saturday in search of another vital away win in the challenge for the championship.

The secret of away wins is very often meeting certain teams at the ?right? time, that is when they are not at their strongest and that has certainly been the case in Edinburgh?s last three visits to the Borders? track which have all yielded wins after many years of painful defeats.

The Monarchs run of victories began last September with a 35-55 win when the Bandits had hit rock bottom. Since then there is not a single survivor in the Bandits? team while only Derek Sneddon, Andrew Tully and Matthew Wethers are still with Edinburgh.

Next up was the 42-48 success last March in the Premier Trophy Group match in which the Bandits had to track Greg Blair as a guest at number 5 while Edinburgh were at full strength.

Then there was the Knockout Cup success in April which provided a 42-51 victory for the Monarchs. Berwick were handicapped on that occasion by a dismal performance by the outgoing Henning Bager and also had to use John McPhail at number 3. Edinburgh were again at full strength for that match.

So is this the ?right? time for the team to be making the short trip down the A1 for this vital Premier League match? Well the Bandits once again are not at full strength. Firstly they will be without the amazing Adrian Rymel due to continental commitments. If the Bandits? match at Rye House (when Adrian withdrew during his first ride due to injury) is discounted, the Berwick number 1 has scored 236+10 - a grand total of 246 points - since 29 March in a run of 19 matches (9 at home and 10 away) an average of 13 points per match! The effect of his absence will depend on how the Berwick guest, Travis McGowan, scores.

Berwick will no longer be able to field Paul Clews as a reserve. Clews has been just as sensational as Rymel since his arrival at Shielfield Park after the unfortunate demise of Newport. In his matches for Berwick since May on only one occasion has he had less than five rides in a match. Indeed he has taken seven rides on four occasions and six on seven occasions. His lowest score for the Bandits has been 4+1 at Scunthorpe while he has hit double figures nine times. Now he is restricted to four programmed rides per match. Tony Atkin would have replaced Clews in the reserve berth but he is taking time out from speedway so the Bandits have reintroduced Guglielmo Franchetti to the side and he moves straight to reserve. Franchetti has only ridden twice for the Bandits at Berwick scoring 2 (4) on both occasions so would seem unlikely to be as prolific a scorer as Clews.

The rest of the Berwick team are in far better form round their own track than on our previous visits. Michal Makovsky is still a difficult man to beat while Norbert Magosi and Tero Aarnio are riders to be reckoned with. The sting in the Bandits? tail may well be in the scoring of Scott Smith whose dismal away form is counter-balanced by some impressive tallies at home.

Edinburgh are still without William Lawson and track former Berwick (now Newcastle) heat leader, Josef Franc, as a guest at number 1. Thomas Jonasson moves back into the team while Andrew Tully drops to reserve. All of the Monarchs (including Franc) have had good meetings at Berwick this year but it will need them all to be on song if the three points are to head northwards. In particular they will all have to have their gating boots on for this match since poor gating was the prime reason for their demise from the fours at Workington last week plus the scare against Rye House a couple of weeks ago.

The home side will surely start as favourites but then that hasn?t bothered Edinburgh in previous matches so here?s hoping for another fired up performance.

The possible line-ups will be (as yet unannounced):

Berwick: Travis McGowan, Paul Clews, Michal Makovsky, Tero Aarnio, Norbert Magosi, Guglielmo Franchetti, Scott Smith.

Edinburgh: Josef Franc, Derek Sneddon, Thomas Jonasson , Matthew Wethers, Ryan Fisher, Andrew Tully, Aaron Summers.

Can the Monarchs make it four in a row? If they can then the Edinburgh juggernaut will still be rolling on with ever increasing pressure on the other challengers in the race for what looks to be the most exciting finish to the league in years.