Berwick Bandits v Edinburgh Monarchs

Seven generally disappointing heats were followed by eight heats in which we fought like champions to earn an important Premier Trophy draw at Berwick.

The Bandits had done well to take a match point at Redcar, so were obviously an in-form team, but we didn't let that slow start prevent us from giving them a real run for it.

As at King's Lynn and Glasgow, we looked a disorganised bunch in the early stages. Our opening pair trailed behind the Bandits (William Lawson's bike going this week), then Michal Rajkowski split the home reserves in heat 2 to leave us 3-9 adrift. That was our second best start in away matches given that it was 2-10 at both King's Lynn and Glasgow, so we are looking for improvement here!

Thomas led heat 3 but Andrew got tangled up going in to the third turn and fell, bringing down Tero Aarnio. The Finn regrettably was ruled out with concussion, but with all due respect to him his current form did not suggest that he would have done any better than his subsequent reserve replacements.

Thomas won the rerun, and Matthew Wethers took second behind Makovsky in heat 4. Sean Stoddart had raced Danny Warwick twice by this stage, and fallen twice trying hard to improve on his poor starts.

We should have shared heat 5, won by Franc, but Aaron Summers showed no inclination to leave the inside line and was easily passed by Franchetti.

That put us ten down but we delayed the TR. We would have needed exceptional foresight to have known that Rajkowski would head home Lawson and Clews with Wethers at the back.

We have Thomas the black and white in the next heat, but Makovsky was too strong in spite of an exciting ride by our Swede who was obviously enjoying Shielfield's slick surface as opposed to last year's mucky and slippery track.

So that was a 4-4 and we were still ten down. That was when things started to change.

Off went Rajkowski again in heat 8, with Aaron Summers backing him up. Warwick was third for a bit which we were quite happy about but when Clews came through we expected a sterner challenge. It was, but Aaron dealt with it and Clews fell going very wide on the final turn.

Matthew got ahead in the next one and held out a speedy-looking Franc. So we were six down with Sean Stoddart's rides used up and Michal Rajkowki on 8 from 3 with potentially four rides left in the last six heats. Could he keep going?

Well he certainly did in the next one. Off he went, with Thomas coming round him on the second bend and going to the front. William Lawson was third but didn't really mount a serious challenge. Suddenly we were just two down!

Makovsky won the next in spite of Fisher's attempts to find a bit more speed, but we kept Danny Warwick scoreless.

Next up we had the big two of Jonasson and Rajkowski programmed for heat 12, against the home reserves. Yes, they did it again with exactly the same pattern as heat 10, and now we were two points up!

Heat 13 was going to be vital. The riders were so determined to grab an advantage that there were two failed attempts with riders down as they battled for position.

Eventually they did get away, and it was Lawson and Makovsky who took 5 for the Bandits. That ended a rather disappointing night for both Ryan Fisher and Matthew Wethers.

We were two down now and put Michal out for his sixth ride alongside Andrew, against Franc and Franchetti for the Bandits. Michal yet again made the gate and kept it wound on to hold off Franc, with Andrew turning in a much more convincing ride to keep the Czech busy as well. He was almost through a couple of times but we settled for a 4-2 to bring us level.

So for the big showdown Bandits had their heat 13 maximum men of Makovsky and Lawson, up against our two big hitters on the night. Thomas H Jonasson and Michal Rajkowski.

This time we didn't have so much hassle at the first corner. Makovsky made the jump again, Thomas and Michal settled in and made sure William, who made a mess of the first turn, didn't have a chance to get in a challenge.

A good result for us but no-one went away too disappointed.

Berwick Bandits v Edinburgh Monarchs

Following a hard fought victory over a stuffy Sheffield side last night, the Scotwaste Monarchs continue their Premier Trophy defence with a trip to Berwick, where they?ll be looking to continue their excellent run of form against the Bandits.

Shielfield Park was probably never considered to be one of our better away tracks until very recently. Rather impressively, we?ve amassed 3 wins and a draw from our last 4 visits! The first of those came against a severely weakened Bandits side late in 2007 (we weren?t much good back in those days either!) and was inspired by a guest performance at reserve from Michael Coles, who rolled back the years and racked up no less than paid 16 points from his 6 rides.

That rare win was followed up by 2008 victories in both the Premier Trophy and KO Cup. Again, some of our farmer friends may claim their side was a shade on the weak side on both occasions but these things tend to happen in speedway. Sometimes you get lucky, other times you don?t!

Our last visit to the Border country was the Premier League meeting at the beginning of August. The hosts used Elite League gater Travis McGowan as a guest for the absent Adrian Rymel and needed a last heat 5-1 to claim a draw, much to the disappointment of my little niece, who almost burst into tears when she saw Thomas H Jonasson smash into the fence in that last race. However, as always with kids, she was soon smiling again when she got her photo taken with him afterwards!

As for the present day, Berwick are currently enjoying a honeymoon period under new ownership. Gone is the seeming doom and gloom of the Peter Waite era when it was deemed normal to use 34 riders in a season and race in front of crowds resembling 3 men and a sheep. The ?new broom? has introduced a ?smooth? racing strip, improved lighting and even replaced that God awful black shale with some exciting red stuff!

With such an air of positivity in England?s most Northern track (they?re not Scottish and they never will be!), it would appear the Monarchs have quite a task on their hands to claim anything from this encounter. There were certainly encouraging signs at Owlerton on Thursday night, so let?s hope this is to be the start of a good spell of consistency from the team.

Our main scoring threat will, as always, come from the top 4. However, that?s not to say the others shouldn?t bother turning up. Aaron Summers has performed steadily at the huge circuit in the past, Sean Stoddart has had his moments and Michal Rajkowski scored an excellent 11+1 on his Shielfield debut!

While searching for a probable line-up for this meeting, I noticed the Bandits? website had some top quality comedy quotes from their club ?spokesperson?. Apparently we?re the ?cocky lot from up the A1? and it was also claimed tonight?s clash was ?THE local derby to end all derbies!? What can I say? I?m sure Newcastle will be well chuffed! Oh, and incase you?re wondering, they didn?t list their riding order...

Presuming it?s the same as in previous weeks, Monarchs? asset William Lawson will wear the number 1 race jacket. It?s probably fair to say the young lad hasn?t enjoyed the best of starts to his season but I?m sure that won?t stop him posting a 15 point maximum tonight!

As ever, the main threat within the Bandits? ranks will be the hard charging Michal Makovsky. When he?s not wreaking havoc at Armadale, the Czech is actually pretty spectacular to watch. Shielfield?s banking suits him down to the ground and he racks up numerous big scores at home. I was actually seriously contemplating including him in my fantasy league team this year but I decided against such double standards!

His fellow countryman, Josef Franc, guested for us in last season?s PL draw, posting 5+3 and finishing win 2 paid wins after a poor start. Let?s hope he?s as ineffective tonight!

The remaining Bandits include the experienced Paul Clews, who forms a solid middle order with popular Finn Tero Aarnio while the key reserve positions are filled by the highly rated Italian Guglielmi Franchetti (the man who always gets injured at Armadale!) and bad hair victim Danny Warwick (the man who travels way too much!).

As a final thought, I must say I?ve been highly impressed with the standard of speedway I?ve witnessed so far in 2009. Therefore, there is a huge pressure on Berwick tonight to maintain that good run. Can they do it? Or will Dick Barrie?s incessant ramblings be the overriding memory of my latest visit to Tractorville? We?ll soon find out!

As always, may the best team win...

Likely line-ups:

Bandits: William Lawson, Paul Clews, Tero Aarnio, Josef Franc, Michal Makovsky, Guglielmi Franchetti, Danny Warwick.

Monarchs: Ryan Fisher, Aaron Summers, Thomas H Jonasson, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers, Michal Rajkowski, Sean Stoddart.