SGB Championship: Berwick Bandits 43, Redcar Bears 47. SGB Championship Shield, semi-final, second-leg: Eastbourne Eagles 55, Glasgow Tigers 34 (agg: 98-81).
Berwick Bandits boss Gary Flint admitted that the home defeat by Redcar Bears in the SGB Championship was a match that “fumbled out of our hands”.
Mechanical gremlins proved costly but Berwick still had a chance of drawing the match as they were four points adrift after Heat 14.
New British champion Charles Wright and ex-Edinburgh Monarchs skipper Eric Riss made the gate. Aaron Summers (pictured) passed Riss to make it a 3-3 in the heat but Bears won 47-43.
Team manager Flint said: “Coty Garcia’s start line engine bang and Leon Flint’s rear chain flinging him to the ground when he was set to take second place, cost us.
“These are the breaks that can twist a match round but Redcar, to their credit, were ready to take advantage when they had to, and they did.”
Elsewhere, Glasgow Tigers crashed out of the SGB Championship Shield in the second-leg of their semi-final at Eastbourne Eagles.
Tigers went to the South Coast to defend a four-point lead but the visitors – still struggling to cope with the loss of Paul Starke – found themselves 15-3 down after three races and never recovered.
The end result was a 55-34 win for Eastbourne and a 98-81 victory on aggregate.
The only consolation Glasgow will take from the meeting were the performances of reserve Connor Bailey and Mikkel B Andersen.
Bailey scored four points on his first visit to Arlington and Andersen sealed his first win for Tigers in collecting five points.
Richard Lawson, a former Glasgow Tigers star, top scored for Eastbourne with 13 points, and another ex Tigers racer, Lewis Kerr, claimed ten. Former Berwick rider Edward Kennet chipped in with nine points.
Best for Glasgow was Craig Cook with nine points and Claus Vissing with seven points.
A spokesman said: “The team must now re-group ahead of the return to league action on Friday with the visit of Berwick Bandits.”
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