Berwick Bandits 46 Workington Comets 43
PREMIER LEAGUE
BERWICK BANDITS new-look side clashed head on with the Workington Comets at Shielfield Park in the Premier League with the Comets desperate to bounce back from a rare League defeat at the hands of Edinburgh the night before.
Berwick introduced their new Swede 23-year-old Robin Aspegren at the number two slot and took his place in Heat One but found himself up against the fastest gating pair in the League as Richard Lawson and Kenny Ingalls shooting out to lead but Lawson’s engine packed up on lap two leaving the race split with Ricky Ashworth taking second despite battling all night with a ‘flu-like virus which kicked in ever stronger as the match wore on.
Jason King recorded his first win as a Bandit in Heat two, again a 3-3 with Liam Carr falling at the rear, but the scoring was broken decisively in Heat Three with the fastest win of the season at 63.7 seconds coming for Berwick’s skipper Lee Complin ahead of David Bellego in a 5-1 to take the score to 11-7.
Adam Roynon and Lawson took massive victories in the following two heats to backed up well by their partners to launch the Comets back into the lead 14-16 whilst Ashworth found his form in dramatic style passing a wildly out of control Roynon coming off bend four on the opening lap to share the race 3-3.
Rene Bach bounced back well from a Heat Three last to shoot out from the gate in Heat Seven to scorch round untroubled for a fine win and with Carr still finding his feet at the rear Tero Aarnio found it easy going for a point in a Comets’ 2-4 to extend their lead to 19-23.
An engine failure for King in Heat Eight and a fall for Ingalls left the unfamiliar score of 3-2 on the card with the win for new boy Aspegren whilst a superb first bend from Bellego and Complin restricted Roynon and Ashley Morris to one point in the 5-1 that returned Berwick to the lead again 27-26.
The sides swapped 4-2 over Heats 11 and 12 with King taking a vital pass round Morris on the third bend of lap two taking the score to 38-32.
A shared race in heat 13 left it tight with Bellego riding a superb race reeling in Kyle Howarth in Heat 14, just failing to get the lead in a Workington 2-4 which with one race left meant the Comets needed a maximum 1-5 to sneak the win with the preceding score 43-40.
Alden made the perfect gate in Heat 15, followed by a wild riding Lee Complin but with the 5-1 on the cards Alden’s bike appeared to blow on the second lap leaving the skipper to share the heat 3-3 and take a fine Berwick win.
Team manager Ian Rae was far happier than seven days previous when Sheffield took a narrow victory on Tweedside, saying: “The Fours’ Championship win seems to have rekindled the fire in our lads’ bellies as they got to grips with one of the toughest teams in the league at the moment and showed them who was boss, but it was most pleasing to see out new Swede “Rockin’” Robin Aspegren get over an engine blow up to bounce back on his second bike to race hard and take an excellent victory proving he has exactly what it takes to become a very successful Bandit.
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