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Berwick Bandits v Newport Wasps
Premier League, 09 September 2006
Shielfield Park, Berwick

Berwick 47
1Jacek Rempala2*3... ..51
2Andreas Bergstrom32*322 ..121
4Stanislaw Burza33322 ..130
5Michal Makovsky22*131* ..92
6Danny Warwick30310 1*081
7Craig BranneyFx.... ..00
8(g)John MorrisonRR0.. ..00
Newport 47
1(g)Josef Franc11*320 ..71
2Tony AtkinR24^2*. ..81
3Chris Schramm2Fx3Fx. ..50
4Neil Collins1*11.. ..31
5Carl Wilkinson3Fx4^1*3 ..111
6Joel Parsons21033 ..90
7Billy Legg1*11*1. ..42

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

Berwick again used R/R at number 3 for the injured James Birkinshaw while Newport had Josef Franc at number 1 as a guest for Craig Watson.

Having won at Newport last Sunday, Berwick were looking to complete the double but the Wasps had some Shielfield Park specialists in their side sure to cause them some worries. The match, however, was marred by what looked to be a very serious injury to Jacek Rempala when his back wheel was clipped by Carl Wilkinson and by a wrist injury for Craig Branney which deprived him of even completing a lap. Berwick were down to three of their top five, one reserve and their number eight after heat 6 and did well to come away with a draw. They also had to cope with the ridiculous and grossly unfair TR rule which Newport had to employ twice to take a point they scarcely deserved.

In the first race Josef Franc and Tony Atkin both shed chains on the first bend, Atkin on lap 1 and Franc on lap 4. Berwick cashed in with a 5-1 from Bergstrom and Rempala as Josef Franc pushed home for third. Disaster number one was just round the corner for Berwick. Craig Branney fell on the third bend and had to be taken to hospital leaving Berwick, already using R/R for James Birkinshaw, in big trouble. Danny Warwick won the rerun under pressure from Joel Parsons to keep the Bandits in front. Burza won heat 3 for the Bandits as the Berwick number 8, John Morrison, took the R/R ride. Morrison didn’t make it to the first bend shedding a chain so the race was shared. Newport pulled two points back in heat 4 when Carl Wilkinson beat Michal Makovsky with Parsons third for a 2-4 which took the score after four heats to 13-11.

Heat 5 was shared as again Morrison taking the R/R ride failed to get past the first bend. Burza won again though as Berwick just kept their noses in front. Then came disaster number two for Berwick. Rempala and Bergstrom led from the tapes but Wilkinson blasted round Bergstrom and chased down Rempala. He clipped Rempala’s back wheel sending both riders into the fence. Although Wilkinson was soon up it was clear that Rempala was seriously in distress. He was loaded on to the spinal backboard and taken to the pits where another ambulance was called. Because of heavy demands on the ambulance service it was 50 minutes before Rempala could be transferred to the County ambulance and taken to hospital. Berwick were now in tatters. Heat 6 was awarded with Wilkinson excluded and the unfortunate Rempala being awarded the race win with Bergstrom second for a 5-1 which put the Bandits six points ahead, a lead they were going to need as they fought to stay in the match. Incredibly heat 7 also resulted in an awarded race when Chris Schramm fell attempting an extravagant outside blast round Makovsky who was on a 5-1 with Danny Warwick and his partner, Neil Collins, ploughed into his bike. The awarded 5-1 put Berwick 10 points clear but, of course, Newport were now in a position to use the TR rule. The ludicrous and unfair nature of this rule was cruelly exposed as Tony Atkin took a TR in heat 8. Bergstrom won the race, however, and, with Warwick finishing third ahead of Parsons, the race was shared 4-4. The score after 8 heats was 30-20 but it was clear there were some difficult heats ahead in which Berwick would only be able to field one rider.

Carl Wilkinson was next to take a TR in heat 9 but Burza limited the damage by winning the race. Wilkinson finished third while Billy Legg passed John Morrison on the very last bend for the third place point which gave Newport a 3-5 advantage cutting the home side’s lead to eight points. Chris Schramm beat Bergstrom in heat 10 while Neil Collins gingerly rode round at the back to pick up the gift third place point as Berwick only fielded one rider. This gave the Wasps a 2-4 and they closed the gap further to six points. Newport then crushed the home side with a 1-5 from Franc and Atkin. Tony Atkin produced a magnificent race to round Danny Warwick before repeating the process on Michal Makovsky to pull another four points back cutting Berwick’s lead to only two points. In heat 12 Chris Schramm fell and was excluded again but his partner, Joel Parsons, rose to the occasion by winning the rerun from Bergstrom and Warwick. This took the score to 39-37 after twelve races.

In heat 13 Berwick could only field one rider as Michal Makovsky faced Josef Franc and Carl Wilkinson. Makovsky kept the home flag flying though by winning the race for a shared heat to preserve the Bandit’s narrow two point lead. With the unbeaten Stanislaw Burza due out in the last two races things were looking a little brighter for the home side but they reckoned without a stunning victory for Joel Parsons in heat 14. Worse for the Bandits, Daniel Warwick, who looked exhausted, surrendered third place to Billy Legg and the 2-4 levelled the match at 44-44. It all came down to the last race and it was Carl Wilkinson who jetted from the start to win it. However, Burza and Makovsky took the minor places from Franc so the Bandits salvaged a point which was no more than they deserved.

Match Report by Merlin