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Stoke Potters v Berwick Bandits
Premier Trophy (Group), 14 May 2006
Loomer Road, Stoke

Stoke 58
1Mark Lemon23333 ..140
2Trent Leverington02*31. ..61
3Paul Clews3133. ..100
4Robbie Kessler2*32*02* ..93
5Alan Mogridge3112*. ..71
6Barrie Evans3031. ..70
7Luke Priest112*1. ..51
Berwick 37
1Stanislaw Burza324^00 ..90
2David Meldrum1010. ..20
3(g)Luke Bowen12*022* ..72
5Andreas Bergstrom00011 1.30
6Danny Warwick01Fx0. ..10
7Craig Branney223X2 6^.150

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

Stoke were at full strength but Berwick were without Michal Makovsky who was still suffering from his heat 15 fall last night. They were also without Lee Smethills who had injured his hand testing an engine after last night’s meeting. Luke Bowen was drafted in to guest for Smethills at number 3 while the Bandits were forced to use Rider Replacement for Makovsky at number 4..

Without their best pairing it was difficult to see how Berwick could make much of a challenge in a match where there was little at stake with both sides unable to qualify for the semi-finals.

Berwick took the opening heat as Stanislaw Burza beat Mark Lemon with David Meldrum finishing ahead of Trent Leverington for a 2-4 but the Potters levelled again with a reserves race 4-2 with Barrie Evans beating Craig Branney. Andreas Bergstrom, taking the R/R ride touched the tapes in heat 3 so started 15 metres back. Stoke cashed in with a 5-1 from Paul Clews and Robbie Kessler. Alan Mogridge fell at the start of heat 4 and lay on the track for some time before getting up and brushing himself down for the rerun which was an all four back affair, Mogridge duly won the race from Branney and Priest for a 4-2 advantage to the home side and a score of 15-9 after the opening four races.

Stanislaw Burza split the Kessler/Clews pairing in heat 5 for a 4-2 which increased the Potters’ lead to eight points. The lead went to 12 points with a Stoke 5-1 in heat 6 when Mark Lemon and Trent Leverington finished first and second but the Potters got a shock in heat 7 as Berwick hit back with a 1-5 of their own. Craig Branney as R/R won the heat with Luke Bowen second ahead of Alan Mogridge in a heat the Potters might have expected to win themselves. This cut the gap between the sides to eight points but it was 12 again with a Stoke 5-1 from Leverington and Priest after Craig Branney had been excluded for ditching Luke Priest in the fence. This took the heat 8 score to 30-18.

Paul Clews and Robbie Kessler extended the home side’s lead to 16 points with a 5-1 in heat 9 and this was followed by a 4-2 in heat 10 when Mark Lemon beat the lively Craig Branney with Trent Leverington third. In heat 11 Berwick gave a TR to Stanislaw Burza but he was beaten by Barrie Evans with Alan Mogridge third leading to a 4-4 shared heat. Paul Clews, in a rich vein of form, won heat 12 from Luke Bowen and Luke Priest for a 4-2 which took the score to 47-27.

Mark Lemon and Alan Mogridge added another 5-1 from Bergstrom and Burza in heat 13 then Berwick gave a TR to Craig Branney in heat 14. This was a howling success as Branney won the heat. Better still for Berwick, their guest Luke Bowen took second place ahead of Barrie Evans and Robbie Kessler so the Bandits took a big 1-8 to add a gloss to their score while knocking seven points off the home side’s lead. In the last heat Mark Lemon and Robbie Kessler took a 5-1 from Andreas Bergstrom and Stanislaw Burza giving Stoke a 21 point win.

Match Report by Merlin