Berwick Bandits postpone KO Cup quarter

Illness and the unavailability of key track staff and management has led Berwick Bandits to postpone Saturday’s scheduled Knockout Cup quarter-final.

FTS Bandits, sponsored by Keenwood Karpets, had been due to host Redcar Bears and were looking to claw back a 12-point deficit from the first-leg.

But a worsening staffing shortage reached crisis point on Thursday morning and the club reluctantly decided that the meeting could not go ahead.

Talks are taking place with the Redcar club to find a suitable restaging date and a Berwick club spokesman said: “At Berwick Speedway we operate with a small but effective group of track staff and management and unfortunately we simply could not run a speedway meeting without our missing staff.

“Postponing any meeting is not a decision we take lightly but we were left with no alternative. We wish all parties a speedy recovery and hope to see them and our supporters trackside as soon as possible.”

Berwick’s next scheduled meeting is on June 18 when the National Development League Grant Henderson Tankers Bullets entertain Mildenhall. The next Championship fixture is at home to Scunthorpe Scorpions on June 25.

PICTURE: Recent action from Berwick by Taz McDonald courtesy of Bandits management