Berwick Bandits look to bounce back from a poor midweek performance during a weekend which sees them race three derby matches which will decide their play-off hopes.
Their Cab Direct Championship triple-header begins at Redcar on Friday and continues with home (Saturday 7pm) and away (Sunday 3pm) clashes with Workington.
Bandits’ No 1 Peter Kildemand (pictured by Keith Hamblin) returns after missing the 30-point hammering at Poole Pirates on Wednesday due to Danish League commitments.
Despite having a 100 per cent home record in 2026, the Bandits have drawn a blank on the road and a series of heavy defeats mean they have only been able to claim one aggregate bonus point.
They have already suffered a 23-point defeat at Redcar this season in the first leg of the BSN Series semi-final where Kildemand’s ten-point haul was by far the biggest contribution.
Stewart Dickson, Berwick’s team manager, said: “While we always plan to win we also have to say that realistically we want to keep any deficit as low as possible to give us an opportunity to get the extra point when the teams meet again later in August.”
Both teams are at full strength with Redcar’s in-form reserve Ace Pijper named despite suffering pelvis, back and kidney damage in a training accident at Glasgow.
Pijper and Jody Scott have been a major factor in a run by the Bears which sees them on the fringes of the play-offs in addition to being big favourites to reach the final and defend the BSN Series trophy against the side they beat in last year’s final, Redcar.
Former Bandits raiders, Drew Kemp and Jonas Jeppesen, post the biggest threat as the Bandits take on bottom of the table Workington.
The biggest of Berwick’s seven home victories this season was the 58-32 mauling of Workington in the Knockout Cup, recording 5-1s in seven of the first heats and eight in all despite losing Reid Battye with serious back injuries.
Battye is now back racing and, despite struggling on away tracks in his debut British season, he is a consistently high scorer around Shielfield Park and could very well be a match-winner again this weekend.
Bears: Charles Wright, Simon Lambert, Jake Mulford, Jason Edwards, Jake Allen, Ace Pijper, Jody Scott
Bandits: Peter Kildemand, Jye Etheridge, Victor Palovaara, Jordan Jenkins, Nick Morris, Jack Smith, Reid Battye
