It was a fine night for Berwick Bandits. They thrashed Workington Comets 58-32 in the MAXICab Knockout Cup, quarter-final, first-leg, in the Borders.
Peter Kildemand’s second successive maximum against the Comets, eight 5-1s, played a big part and the Borders club take a 26-point lead into this Sunday’s second leg in Cumbria (3pm).
Their joy was tempered a heavy fall which left Reid Battye en-route to the Newcastle’s RVI hospital with chest and back injuries.
He was the victim of an incident involving teenager Niklas Holm Jacobsen who carried too much speed into the third bend, clattered into the fence and collected Battye from behind.
Lengthy treatment on the track followed the Heat 8 incident which saw both riders withdrawn from the meeting.
It was the Berwick reserve’s second encounter with the polyfoam barrier after Craig Cook tangled with him in heat four.
Initially, referee Willie Dishington excluded the home man, but controversially reviewed the decision using camera footage supplied by a supporter on the third bend as the official club stream didn’t have a definitive angle on the high speed crash.
The Scottish official overturned his original decision and excluding Cook.
The rerun gave Bandits a fourth successive 5-1 in an unexpected start to the night which saw them drop just one point – Cook forcing Jye Etheridge into third place in heat six – in the opening eight heats.
Etheridge had comfortably followed home Kildemand who set the tone for the night as he dismissed the challenge of former Shielfield Park team-mate Jonas Jeppesen in Heat 1.
Jack Smith had been a doubt pre-meeting following a big crash involving ex-Bandit Connor Coles last weekend, but not only did he take his place in the meeting but win heat two and then clipped the wings of another of Workington’s big hitters, cutting inside Troy Batchelor to join the Nick Morris for another maximum.
The Scandinavian pairing of Victor Palovaara and Lasse Fredriksen were also untouchable at least until the first race after the delay caused by Battye’s treatment when the Norwegian shed a chain at the start, Cook producing the first Workington heat winner of the night, Dayle Wood’s third place giving the travelling fans some cold comfort with a first heat win.
Berwick’s reply was immediate, Kildemand and Etheridge teaming up to provide more misery for the Batchelor/Zischke paring.
Heat 11 produced the first shared heat of the night but also the best race as Wood and Jeppesen gated on a 5-1. Morris’ pursuit was a little ragged and seemed to have lost momentum as he went ridiculously wide off the fourth bend and he almost came to grief. Instead the Aussie h]kept the throttle open and picked off both his former team-mates in thrilling fashion.
A freak incident in the pits saw Cook apparently dislocate his shoulder while working on his bike and become the second Comets racer to withdraw from the action.
Kildemand was off and away to complete his untroubled maximum in typically classy style, but behind him Jeppesen and Morris were enjoying a titanic battle.
The Dane called on the assistance of the back straight fence as he attempted to halt Morris’ charge but the Bandit seemed to have struck a decisive blow only to shed a primary chain as he entered the final two bends, insult added to mechanical injury as he was passed by a labouring Wood on the way to the line, his maximum hopes in tatters.
Tate Zischke, who once again failed to get to grips with Shielfield Park, made the gate in Heat 14 and got the better of Smith in another shared heat, earning a heat 15 nomination in the process.
Jeppesen finally hit the front at the fifth and final time of asking, the resulting 4-2 taking Workington past the 30 point mark – something of an achieve after the disastrous first half to the meeting.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh Monarchs teenager, Jordy Loftus, will replace Battye for the second leg as the club awaits news of the extent of his injuries.
Bandits: Peter Kildemand 12 (maximum), Jye Etheridge 8+2, Victor Palovaara 11, Lasse Fredriksen 5+3, Nick Morris 9, Jack Smith 7+2, Reid Battye 6+3
Comets: Jonas Jeppesen 9, Niklas Holm Jakobsen 0, Troy Batchelor 5+1, Tate Zischke 4, Craig Cook 5, Dayle Wood 7+2, Jamie Etherington 1
CLOSE ENCOUNTER: Reid Battye and Dayle Wood racing at Berwick. Picture by Keith Hamblin
