Team Websites for News and More Detailed Match Reports:
Berwick Bandits Website (Official)
Berwick Bandits Website (Unofficial)
Live Updates for a Current or Recent match: Live Speedway Updates
Discussion on Matches and Other Speedway Issues: Speedway Forum
Berwick Bandits v Glasgow Tigers
Premier League, 06 May 2006
Shielfield Park, Berwick
| 1 | Stanislaw Burza | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | . | . | 9 | 0 |
| 2 | David Meldrum | 1* | 1* | 3 | 2* | . | . | . | 7 | 3 |
| 3 | Lee Smethills | 3 | R | 1 | 3 | . | . | . | 7 | 0 |
| 4 | Michal Makovsky | 2* | 2 | 3 | 3 | Fx | . | . | 10 | 1 |
| 5 | Andreas Bergstrom | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | . | . | . | 6 | 0 |
| 6 | Danny Warwick | 3 | 1* | 1* | 2* | . | . | . | 7 | 3 |
| 7 | Craig Branney | 2* | 1* | 2* | R | . | . | . | 5 | 3 |
| 1 | Danny Bird | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6^ | 2* | 2* | . | 19 | 2 |
| 2 | David McAllan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | R | . | . | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Lee Dicken | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | . | . | . | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | Shane Parker | 3 | 3 | 4^ | 3 | 3 | . | . | 16 | 0 |
| 6 | Robert Ksiezak | F | 0 | 0 | R | . | . | . | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | James Cockle | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 1 | . | 6 | 1 |
* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).
|
Berwick were at full strength for this match but Glasgow were missing Kauko Nieminen who dislocated his shoulder at Edinburgh last night so they used Rider Replacement at number 4 instead. Without Kauko Nieminen, Glasgow were unable to repeat their Premier Trophy success at Berwick when they won 44-46. Indeed this was really a match between Berwick and Bird/Parker. Glasgow’s top two scored an incredible 35+2 which must be some sort of record. They must be very disappointed to come away empty handed after that effort but the only points that the other team members scored at the expense of the Berwick riders were in heat 5 when Lee Smethills suffered an engine failure and heat 12 when Craig Branney fell while lying second. Danny Bird set the pattern in the opening heat with a fast start and fast win. This produced a shared heat but without Bird or Parker in heats two or three Glasgow conceded two 5-1s. In the reserves race Robert Ksiezak fell on the last bend to lose his second place but Smethills and Makovsky had no difficulty taking a 5-1 in heat 3. Shane Parker stopped the rot in heat 4 with a tapes to flag win. Robert Ksiezak also made a good start but was passed by Bergstrom and Branney so the race was shared. This took the heat 4 score to 16-8. Glasgow pulled two points back in heat 5. Danny Bird made another electric start to beat Michal Makovsky but Lee Smethills pulled up with an engine failure allowing David McAllan to pick up his only point of the match as the Tigers took a 2-4. Unsupported wins for Parker and Bird, taking a R/R ride, in the next two heats kept the Berwick lead at six points but without either of their big two Glasgow conceded the inevitable 5-1 in heat 8 to David Meldrum and Craig Branney. However this was a bit of a double edged sword for Berwick because it took them 10 points ahead at 29-19. Glasgow gave Shane Parker a TR in heat 9 but he chose the worst possible time to concede his only point of the match. The race was rerun after an unsatisfactory start with Parker leading but Michal Makovsky beat him to the first bend in the rerun and went on to win the race which finished as a 4-4 shared heat. In heat 10 it looked as though the Bandits might have to be content with a 4-2 as James Cockle held second place going into the last lap. David Meldrum made a hard challenge on the second bend of the last lap to pass the Glasgow reserve so it was another 5-1 to the Bandits, a move which did not go down well with the Glasgow supporters. In heat 11 Danny Bird took a TR and continued with his power gating and heat wins with all six points. Again there was no support with Andreas Bergstrom coming from the back to second place and Daniel Warwick just holding off David McAllan. This resulted in a 3-6 to the Tigers cutting the home side’s lead to 11 points. Heat 12 looked bad for Glasgow without Bird or parker but Craig Branney came to grief on the second lap allowing Lee Dicken and James Cockle through for a shared heat. This brought the score after 12 races to 44-33. It was time for the Parker/Bird double act in heats 13 and 15 and, as in the Premier Trophy match, they duly obliged but in heat 14 Makovsky and Warwick took a home 5-1 to balance things a bit. In the last race Shane Parker took Michal Makovsky wide on the opening bend and Makovsky got too near the fence and fell causing the race to be rerun virtually assuring the resultant 1-5. Match Report by Merlin |