Berwick Bandits v Edinburgh Monarchs

Berwick had manufactured a reasonable lineup out of all their problems, so it was clearly not going to be an easy matter for us to beat them on Saturday night.

Carl Wilkinson, Ritchie Hawkins, Jacek Rempala and a rider replacement which gave everyone an extra ride made them a handy side ? although as it turned out Hawkins? efforts brought him little reward.

The track had apparently been deep the previous week when Newport totalled 61, but for our visit it was slick. Any home riders fortunate enough to be there two weeks running must have been confused.

Our riders gated in heat 1 but Carl Wilkinson soon passed Derek. He couldn?t get near George Stancl who looked very impressive, and we were two up right away.

The reserves were clearly going to be important, so it was pleasing to see Michael Coles get off to a determined start from gate 4, and win pretty comfortably, though Kalle was well tailed off after an early bid to gain a place.

Heat 3 looked like a maximum advantage for the Bandits with Wilkinson and Hawkins leading from Laukkanen. Andrew fell at the back, then Hawkins slid off while leading on the second bend! He was able to remount quickly and stay in third spot.

Rempala won a shared heat 4, then Hawkins had his next spot of bother. Stancl and Sneddon gated ahead of him and he got to close to the back of Derek, and fell. That seemed likely to gift us a 5-1 in the rerun, but Sam Martin did well to chase and pass Derek.

Our two point lead was quickly overturned as Wilkinson took his second win over hard-chasing Matthew Wethers, with Katajisto disappointingly trailing Bugeja.

Heat 7 was in a 3-3 position all the way, and finished as a 3-3, but with two changes of position right at the end! Rempala led all the way but made a mess of the last turn, allowing Laukkanen to take the three points, but also in the last few yards Martin again pulled off a pass, this time on Tully. Young Martin crashed into the fence after the heat but rose to his feet after some attention.

So the score was 21-21 and it seemed we were in for a close run match.

Heat 8 looked like a good one for us and so it proved. Martin may have been brought in for the Bandits but was presumably still dusting himself down as Sneddon and Coles took 5 against Bekker and Bugeja.

Bandits had the strong pair of Hawkins and Rempala in the next one, in which Katajisto couldn?t start his bike and went off 15 metres after failing to beat the 2 minutes.

The home men led for the first lap, but Matthew had the bit between his teeth by now. He pushed his way under Rempala coming out of the third turn, then accepted the gift win when Hawkins came to a stop. This allowed Kalle his only point, but as it was his third ride he was unlikely to get any more.

Coles took Tully?s place in heat 10, and along with Laukkanen who was now going very well, they raced clear of Wilkinson for a 5-1 to put us into a lead of 35-25 at the interval.

There was now a Benevolent Fund collection while Peter Waite went out in his water bowser. This is always a matter of some concern because there is no guarantee how a watering will turn out.

No-one looked completely steady in heat 11 as Rempala won, but Martin fell at the back. Derek Sneddon held second for a while, then George went through to try to mount a challenge, to no avail.

Bandits decided to trust Ritchie Hawkins with their TR ride, even though he had only 1 from 3 rides. Kaj Laukkanen got ahead of him coming out of the second bend, and later in the heat Hawkins lost it on the damp surface of the pits bend and came off the track.

He was excluded, we scored a 5-1 and at 29-43 it was all over.

A determined Matthew Wethers took heat 13 from Rempala with Stancl keeping Wilkinson at the back, then finally Hawkins complete a race and won heat 14, shared by Coles and Tully from the now more subdued Martin.

Just to rub it in, Wethers and Laukkanen took a comfortable last heat 5-1, and we had won by 20 points with a very good display.

Berwick Bandits v Edinburgh Monarchs

Following a tremendous victory over title chasing Rye House last night, the Monarchs head to Berwick looking for their second win in 24 hours.

The Bandits are a somewhat patched up outfit but, it has to be said, this week?s patching up has strengthened them by quite a distance in comparison to their usual line-up.

Gone are the likes of inexperienced newcomer Matej Kus, the frighteningly inconsistent Stanislaw Burza and Longtrack expert Theo Pijper, replaced by former Shielfield heroes Carl Wilkinson and Ritchie Hawkins, plus a rider replacement facility which allows all 6 remaining Bandits an optional extra ride.

The other top man who will undoubtedly be a threat to Monarchs? hopes tonight is Jacek Rempala, who will be remembered most in the Armadale area for his utterly inept guest performance not so long ago. There is no doubt he is an altogether different prospect round the Border circuit, as shown by his 17 point return in last week?s humiliation at the hands of lowly Newport Wasps.

If we?re not keeping the heat leaders quiet, then surely we must be capable of taking points off the bottom end? Certainly any side ?boasting? Arlo Bugeja, Sam Martin and Byron Bekker should be there for the taking but you just never know in speedway! All these young men have ?had their moments? in their careers, so our job tonight is to ensure they don?t enjoy any more!

As always, a victory is a team effort but of greater importance is the fact the top men should be doing more than their fair share of the points scoring. Therefore, the responsibility on the shoulders of George Stancl and Kaj Laukkanen is something which must receive a positive response. Stancl should be on a high after his first maximum in Monarchs? colours last night but, as far as Laukkanen is concerned, his form seems to ?enjoy? more ups and downs than a Debenhams lift! Let?s hope it stops on the eighth floor tonight!

The backup men, namely Matthew Wethers, Derek Sneddon and Andrew Tully have been the mainstays on several occasions this season and it would be pretty much a surprise if any of them performed below their capabilities in this one, which only leaves the reserves, Michael Coles and Kalle Katajisto.

Colesy is one of Mr Waite?s 24 sacking victims in 2007, so he?s now closing his career at Glasgow, while young Kalle has already sampled the black shale and heavy conditions, so he should know what to expect!

Good luck to everyone and, as always, may the best team win?

Line-ups:

Bandits: Carl Wilkinson, Arlo Bugeja, Matej Kus r/r, Ritchie Hawkins, Jacek Rempala, Sam Martin, Byron Bekker.

Monarchs: George Stancl, Derek Sneddon, Kaj Laukkanen, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers, Kalle Katajisto, Michael Coles.