Berwick Bandits 55-37 Newcastle Diamonds

And it was easy to see the difference between the two sides, for whereas Bandits only ran one last place in a heat in which there were four finishers, the Diamonds ran 13, with Christian Henry and reserve Lewis Rose failing to score from eight starts between them.

In the early stages there wasn’t a lot between the sides with Bandits taking a four-point lead courtesy of two 4-2s in heats three and four, but Newcastle pegged it back at 18-all with a 1-5 from Ludvig Lindgren and guest Rafal Konopka in the re-run of heat six after Ben Barker shed a chain when leading, with the result that he had to leave the track by ambulance complaining of a sore shoulder.

In heat seven Claus Vissing made a great cutback to pass Stevie Worrall off the second bend on lap two as Berwick regained the initiative.

And Kevin Doolan and Thomas Jorgensen both forced their way past Lindgren in the early stages of heat nine as Bandits forced 30-24 in front.

Two more heat advantages in 10 and 11 saw the home side stretch their lead to 12 at 39-27, with Barker back on track and winning after his earlier spill.

This enabled Diamonds to use Stevie Worrall as a double pointed tactical ride in 12, but Doolan made it three wins out of four, and with Vissing and Barker taking a 5-1 from 13 victory was guaranteed.

Another maximum heat advantage from Thomas Jorgensen and Alex Edberg in 14 saw Berwick go 20-points in front, before Lewis Kerr, with his third win of the night, denied Vissing his paid maximum with a tapes to flag victory in 15.

Berwick: Claus Vissing 13+1, Kevin Doolan 11, Thomas Jorgensen 7+2, Alex Edberg 7+2, Ben Barker 7+1, Richard Hall 6, Hynek Stichauer 4+2.

Newcastle: Stevie Worrall 14, Lewis Kerr 10, Rafel Konopka 8+1, Ludvig Lindgren 5, Lewis Rose 0, Christian Henry 0, Anton Rosen rider replacement.

SOMERSET REBELS 58

BERWICK BANDITS 32

Berwick went down to a heavy 26-point defeat at Somerset on Friday.

The Rebels had number one Brady Kurtz leading the way with a 15-point maximum, whilst Richie Worrall, who had guested for Bandits a week earlier, netted paid 14.

Berwick made a bright start and after taking a 1-5 from the returning Alex Edberg and Richard Hall in heat two, and a 2-4 from Claus Vissing and Hall in four, the visitors led 10-14.

But the home side then stepped up a gear, and six heat advantages in a row, including four 5-1s, saw them race into a commanding 38-22 lead after ten.

In fact, Berwick failed to register another heat winner and with Kevin Doolan and Hynek Stichauer only scoring one point between them Somerset eased to a comfortable victory.

Berwick boss John Anderson said afterwards: “The match started off with much promise, but Somerset are one of the top sides in the Premier League and they showed us why.

“The fans went home happy knowing that we put up a fight, but the worrying aspect from our point of view was the number of zeros on the scorecard - that is something we have to try and put right immediately.”

Somerset 58: Brady Kurtz 15, Richie Worrall 12+2, Josh Grajczonek 9, Paul Starke 8+1, Leigh Lanham 6+2, Charles Wright 6+2, James Sarjeant 2.

Berwick 32: Thomas Jorgensen 9, Claus Vissing 8, Richard Hall 7+2, Ben Barker 4+1, Alex Edberg 3, Kevin Doolan 1, Hynek Stichauer 0.

* Berwick teenager Liam Carr, who has just returned to action after a lengthy injury lay-off, has been signed by National League side Buxton.

Carr has spent eight months on the sidelines with a knee ligament injury and only last weekend he had his first practice session at Shielfield.