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 Newcastle Diamonds
Premier Trophy (Group), 08 April 2006
Shielfield Park, Berwick

Berwick 42
1Adrian Rymel131*21 ..81
2David Meldrum0R1*2. ..31
3Lee Smethills1*1*12*. ..53
4Michal Makovsky22320 ..90
5Andreas Bergstrom3220. ..70
6Danny Warwick1*00.. ..11
7Craig Branney21231* ..91
Newcastle 48
1George Stancl3311. ..80
2Christian Henry2*033R ..81
4Josef Franc33333 ..150
5James Grieves22232* ..111
6Adam McKinna00101 ..20
7Jamie Robertson301*F0 0.41

* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).

It was another north-east local derby tonight as Berwick took on Newcastle . Berwick were at full strength but Newcastle were without Manuel Hauzinger who was racing in his national championships so used R/R instead. Berwick were looking to atone for the eight point home defeat they suffered at the hands of the Diamonds in their opening match of the season at Shielfield Park.

Newcastle got off to a cracking start with a 1-5 from Christian Henry and George Stancl and it was an uphill struggle for the Berwick boys after that as the Diamonds produced 11 of the 15 race winners. Jaimie Robertson won the reserves race for a shared heat then Josef Franc did likewise in heat 3. Andreas Bergstrom became the first Berwick race winner in heat 4 beating James Grieves with a stunning outside pass on the third lap. With Craig Branney taking third place from Jaimie Robertson, Berwick took a 4-2 which reduced the gap to 2 points. The score after four heats was 11-13.

George Stancl won heat 5 but with Makovsky and Smethills finishing ahead of Henry the result was another shared race. Adrian Rymel took the race win from Grieves in heat 6 but David Meldrum shed a chain so this heat too was shared. However in heat 7 Newcastle pulled four points ahead again when Josef Franc won again from Bergstrom. Adam McKinna took the third place point for a Diamonds’ 2-4 then Christian Henry won heat 8 to share the points and take the heat 8 score to 22-26.

Berwick just couldn’t get back on level terms but Michal Makovsky won heat 9 and was supported by Lee Smethills who took third place behind James Grieves for a home 4-2 cutting the Diamonds’ lead to two points. Josef Franc made it three wins on the trot on his scorecard but David Meldrum and Adrian Rymel shared the points in heat 10. Newcastle then stretched their lead to four points again with a 2-4 in heat 11. Christian Henry won the race from Andreas Bergstrom with George Stancl third for a 2-4 but Berwick finally got back to equality in heat 12. With Christian Henry in this race the Diamonds must have been confident of a 3-3 but when he retired at the back Craig Branney and Lee Smethills took full advantage to score a 5-1. This brought the score after 12 heats to 36-36.

Berwick didn’t enjoy being on level terms for long as Newcastle opened up a two point lead again with a 2-4 in heat 13. In a magnificent race James Grieves took the win from Adrian Rymel but behind them Andreas Bergstrom pushed George Stancl all the way for third place with the Newcastle number 1 holding on for the vital third place. Things looked bleak in heat 14 when Josef Franc won for the fourth time and a timely shared heat leaving the visitors two ahead with the last race to come. In the last race he then came out to complete his five ride maximum holding up the Berwick pair in the process so that his partner, James Grieves, could round the Berwick pair to join him for a 1-5.

Match Report by Merlin