Berwick Bandits v Edinburgh Monarchs

We took a big travelling support to Berwick even though most of us knew that the current team problems leave us much less competitive than we have enjoyed being over the last year and a half.

Bandits too had team problems, with Josef Franc away in the Czech Republic yet again (Wilkinson guesting) plus Luke Priest standing in for Gino Franchetti, who may or may not still be a Bandit.

We were off to a good start though, with Ryan taking heat 1 off gate 4 and Michal contributing the point. As it turned out, the gate positions were to prove very important all night.

Scores were levelled in heat 2 and clearly Aarnio was in for a good night. Byron Bekker got a terrible start and made up a lot of ground on Priest during the heat.

Stan Burza won heat 3 off gate 1, and that was to turn out to be an amazing feat ? no-one else did it all night. Generally the run round the outside was so strong that any decent rider on the wider gates used it to good advantage.

The Raj fell on the pits bend duelling with Aarnio in heat 4 which took the score to 15-9, but we fought back to level that over the next two heats.

Fisher brilliantly beat Burza in heat 5 with Rajkowski withstanding the efforts of Clews, and we took an excellent 5 through Aaron and Matthew in heat 6. They really powered off that second bend to go ahead of Wilkinson.

A couple of shared heats followed and at 24-24 we were doing better than expected.

The next two heats were an obvious danger though with the Bandits? pairs off the outside gates ? and we lost both 5-1. Fisher from gate 1 could not stop Burza and Clews speeding round him, and likewise Matthew Wethers in heat 10 against Wilkinson and Aarnio.

How important were the gate positions? Well in heat 11 it was Monarchs who had the wider gates and we took a 5-1 through Ryan and Michal over home star Makovsky. That?s how important.

We were not strongly represented in heat 12 and Clews/Aarnio were able to buck the trend of the gates and take 5. Max Dilger was not showing great aptitude for the bigger circuit, and Aaron did not have a good ride either.

Ryan did well to get a second from gate 1 in heat 13, and Matthew managed a 4-point TR in heat 14.

We won the toss for heat 15 but amazingly chose gates 1 and 3. Matthew was off the inside and came last as Ryan raced home to take his score to an excellent 15.

Berwick Bandits v Edinburgh Monarchs

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

The unbeaten run currently stands at 11 meetings and stretches back as far as early 2007 when we lost at Shielfield Park on Premier Trophy duty. Those were the days when Andrew Tully had a 3.00 average, Ronnie Correy was dropping chains aplenty and The Proclaimers were number 1 in the UK chart!

Despite this, the hosts will probably be looking forward to tonight?s clash with a greater level of optimism than before. From this year?s draw in the Borders, Thomas H Jonasson has left the Monarchs? ranks and ?big scoring reserve? Michal Rajkowski has moved up into the top 5, thus negating his potential effectiveness somewhat. However, they shouldn?t take us too lightly as surely Ryan Fisher and Matthew Wethers will improve on their 5 point returns?

The Bandits are also slightly weakened, albeit not at the top end. Josef Franc is racing in the Czech Best Pairs (apparently the European flower arranging Championships are next weekend) but his replacement, Scunthorpe?s Carl Wilkinson, is a Shielfield Park expert. He?s always spectacular to watch and should be good for double figures, as should Franc?s fellow countryman, the ever present Michal Makovsky. Our guys rarely defeat him on his home circuit (maybe they?re scared to go near him!), so let?s see if anyone can cause an upset tonight!

The man the Bandits will really miss is Italian Guglielmo Franchetti, who remains sidelined. Luke Priest, who started the season with Workington, stands in and any points scored by him will probably be looked upon as a bonus.

His fellow reserve, Tero Aarnio could be the key man in the final outcome. 7 rides and a possible 21 points can certainly swing any fixture! And, talking of key men, Paul Clews has enough track craft in his locker to make anyone jealous and is always a joy to watch.

Elsewhere, new recruit Stanislaw Burza is always popular yours truly after I placed a bet on him to win the 2006 Scottish Open! I?ll happily accept him scoring well, as long as we win of course!

Probably the biggest piece of interest in this fixture surrounds the 2 ?new? Germans going head to head. Berwick?s Frank Facher and Monarchs? Max Dilger have faced each other on numerous occasions in their homeland but British speedway is a different kettle of fish. From a quick glance at results, it would seem Facher boasts the bigger pedigree but, you know what they say, you don?t race online!

Here?s to another enjoyable evening and, as always, may the best team win...

Likely line-ups:

Bandits: Carl Wilkinson, Frank Facher, Paul Clews, Stanislaw Burza, Michal Makovsky, Tero Aarnio, Luke Priest.

Monarchs: Ryan Fisher, Michal Rajkowski, Max Dilger, Matthew Wethers, r/r for Andrew Tully, Aaron Summers, Byron Bekker.