Berwick Bandits take on glamour club Poole Pirates after another cup setback

As feared, a four-point first leg lead was not enough as Berwick lost to 53-37 at Redcar on Friday night, an aggregate defeat which extends a depressing record of having fallen at the first hurdle in eight successive cup campaigns stretching back to 2016.

Which leaves just the Championship league to aim at and a top four finish which would see the Bandits reach the play-offs.

Unfortunately for Berwick, Drew Kemp suffered his first barren night of the season at the Ecco Arena managing just four points. With Craig Cook and Peter Kildemand top scoring with eight apiece, the Bandits could not recover from falling 14 points behind after just six races.

Reserve Jack Smith had another solid evening, Berwick’s only race winner in the opening seven heats before teaming up with skipper Danyon Hume for a heat eight 5-1 which briefly revived the visitors’ hopes of an aggregate win.

But with Danny King, 14, and Erik Riss, 12, dominant, the home side ended with back-to-back 5-1s to seal the win.

Kemp’s below par return was even more frustrating as the following evening, guesting for Glasgow, he scored a four-ride maximum in their win at Plymouth.

Along with Cook – who also scored a maximum last week, in his case for Oxford Spires at Birmingham in the Premiership, the Suffolk flyer was in action in Monday night’s British Final at the National Speedway Stadium in Manchester.

Berwick will need both men on top form as they prepare for the visit of Poole, a side forced to rebuild after an all-conquering 2024 which saw them win all three available trophies.

Tom Brennan and Ben Cook have moved on from the Championship while Sam Hagon was released and made his way to Berwick over the winter.

Their big signing, British Speedway wonderkid William Cairns, cannot race at Championship level until his 16th birthday next month which has left them in a state of flux.

Poole released Cairns’ initial fill-in Matt Marson following a surprise home defeat to Oxford last week, 30-year-old Daryl Ritchings taking his place.

But Poole still feature a strong spearhead in Richard Lawson – who averages nearly 11 points a meeting and has three maximums from previous visits to the Borders – and last year’s Berwick number one Lewis Kerr along with Anders Rowe.

Rowe and Kemp spent much of their early careers riding alongside each other in the National League and for Great Britain at age group level and have a fierce but friendly rivalry.

Whichever one hits the big points on Saturday night is likely to decide the destination of the points.

After finishing bottom of the table in 2024, Berwick are confident of a much more competitive 2025.

Skipper Hume acknowledged: “So far the team has failed to click on the same night, there’s always been one or more of us out of the points. When we do someone is going to be on the end of a beating.

“Saturday would be a great time to start.”