Berwick Jewson Bandits and Glasgow Allied Vehicles Tigers race home and away this weekend, with both sides looking to kick-start their faltering seasons.
The weekend begins at Ashfield on Friday (7.30pm), moving on to Shielfield Park on Saturday (7pm) and Stewart Dickson, Berwick’s team manager, said: “Our first goal is to keep things close with one eye on the aggregate point.
“Glasgow ran us close at Shielfield earlier in the season despite only having six riders while we did reasonably well at Ashfield despite missing a track specialist in Lewis Kerr.”
Both sides desperately need the points, Berwick to end an injury-strewn, four-match, losing streak while Tigers have only one win from their three Cab Direct Championship fixures, losing at Workington and Redcar having beaten the Comets at Ashfield.
Glasgow have added Jack Smith to their seven since they lost 48-42 at Shielfield Park in April’s BSN Series clash and he replaces Lee Complin who failed a drugs test in the run-up to that meeting in April and is currently serving a 20-month ban.
Glasgow gained some semblance of revenge in the reverse fixture at Ashfield, a night when Poole’s Sam Hagon guested in place of Complin, with Claus Vissing, guesting for Leon Flint, top-scoring with 13 points.
Berwick were without No 1, Lewis Kerr that night, the former Tiger suffering an ankle injury riding for Oxford in the Premiership, but he is back and finding the kind of form which saw him beat Glasgow No 1 three times at Shielfield Park.
Hagon, who has been in sparkling form for Poole this season, won the British under-21 Final on his last visit to Glasgow, beating SGP2 qualifier Flint in the final, guests in place of injured Danish racer, Bastian Borke, for both meetings.
He is partnered at reserve by Jason Garrad who is having his best-ever season in Oxford’s National Development League, scoring 30 points from his three meetings so far, including a maximum against Edinburgh’s Academy.
A third guest is Erik Riss who has the unenviable task of filling the void left by Rory Schlein’s season-ending crash, the German not currently attached to a Cab Direct Championship side but scoring freely for Oxford in the Premiership.
The 28-year-old has an exceptional record at Shielfield Park for both Redcar and Edinburgh and has also been among the points around Ashfield.
Riss lines up in the No 3 berth on Friday, swapping places with Jye Etheridge – back after missing the last two meetings suffering a concussion in the defeat against Scunthorpe. Ethridge is at No 5 for the Shielfield fixture.
Glasgow’s challenge will be led by two former Berwick captains, Chris Harris and Flint, while Paul Starke and Ace Pijper are also former Berwick riders.
Dickson added: “This is a chance for both sides to get points on the board. Glasgow have had a stop/start Championship campaign with very little continuity, so perhaps there is a chance for us to catch them cold.
“After a solid, albeit not spectacular, start to the season, we have been knocked sideways by injuries to Rory and Bastian who were both riding well above their averages.
“We let Scunthorpe beat us at home, a meeting we should never have lost, so we have to get the season back on track and there are still 20 points available to us this season. We have to start picking them up.”
Tickets for Saturday’s meeting cost £18 until midnight on Friday. On the day e-tickets and cash admission is £20 (£18 concessions and students). Debit or credit card payments are not available.
Glasgow: Chris Harris, Paul Starke, Leon Flint, James Pearson, Steve Worrall, Jack Smith, Ace Pijper
Berwick: Lewi Kerr, Danyon Hume, Erik Riss (Jye Etheridge Saturday), Drew Kemp, Jye Etheridge (Erik Riss Saturday), Jason Garrad, Sam Hagon
PICTURE: Etheridge v Flint by Taz McDougall
Experienced news, business, arts, sport and travel journalist. Food critic and managing editor of a well-established food and travel website. Also a magazine editor of publications with circulations of up to 200,000 and managing director of a long-established PR/marketing company with a string of blue-chip clients in its CV. Former communications lecturer at a Scottish university and social media specialist for a string of successful and busy SMEs.
