Finals, workshops, changing fortunes, vintage jackets, Blair bikes and joyful celebration

Friday 3 July, 7.30pm: Redcar Bears v R.E.D Bandits, powered by STS, BSN Series semi-final, first leg. Buy tickets Buy livestream

Saturday 4 July, 7pm: R.E.D Bandits, powered by STS v Oxford Cheetahs, Cab Direct Championship Buy tickets

Like buses, you wait ages for a semi-final and then two come along in six days.

The town is still buzzing after Saturday’s demolition of Poole to reach our ninth Knockout Cup Final, many croaky Sunday conversations held with voices lost in the raw excitement of it all. Your support was superb on Saturday, getting behind the Bandits from the off, letting Poole know that they weren’t going to have it their way when things got a little spicy and then shaking the old stadium’s foundations to the core when Jye and Jack sent us to Plymouth in heat 14.

Which leads to a bit of mea culpa. Greg and Steve were not the only ones lulled into falsely thinking we needed 48 points to get through.

But as Pythagoras, Hypatia, John Horton Conway or Berwick co-promoter Steve Dews could have told you it actually happened a heat earlier when we reached 47.

Nick Morris inflicted the second defeat of the night on Richard Lawson and when Peter Kildemand crossed the line in third that point meant that Poole could only reach 41 points ergo even two 5-0s would not broach the aggregate gap.

Still, better to make doubly sure though and rub in our dominance of course which is exactly what Jye and Jack did of course. Just to put it into perspective this was Poole’s biggest away defeat since 2019 and aggregate loss since 2018 – both in the Elite league of course.

About the only miss-step our Stoke-born reserve Jack Smith made all night was missing the celebratory picture posed by Keith Hamblin because he was talking BSN’s Laura Pollard through an incredible evening.

Ω Now one way or another Cooper Rushen had a big say in proceedings and was involved in the two most talked about incidents of the tie – excluded on both occasions of course.

His kung-fu stylings on the way to the first bend before playing ten-pin with Jye, twice, and PK earned the 16-year-old some attention and a light pat on the shoulder from our skipper.

But perhaps his biggest intervention was during heat 14 at Wimborne Road when he overcooked the second bend, and ran across the front of Jack as he fell.

Result? Exclusion for the Essex boy and a very second-hand looking piece of speedway bike transported back to the north-west by the Smith family on Wednesday night.

So for dad Andy it was workshop duty as he virtually rebuilt the bike from scratch replacing damaged and bent parts along the way, Friday’s early postponement at Glasgow – where Jack was due to guest against the Pirates – giving a bit of respite to work which didn’t finish until the early hours of Saturday.

And it was on that sweet rocket racing machine that Jack rattled up a paid 12 score on Saturday.

Ω With the new Green Sheet averages coming into effect on Wednesday, expect a number of teams to be redeclaring their starting sevens this week.

Ω Double jeopardy is a fundamental legal protection dating back to the Roman times.

It basically means that you cannot be tried twice for the same offence.

Exceptions under the 2003 Criminal Justice Act allow it to be ignored in 30 serious offences including kidnapping, murder and breaking the tapes in a speedway meeting.

Actually the latter is not specifically covered by the Act but many of us became aware of it for the first time when referee Dave Watters chose to hand a warning to Jordan Jenkins after our free-scoring reserve demolished the tapes in heat four.

Now I suspect I’m not the only one who has always believed that a warning effectively translates into a gotcha for those who go early but still manage to avoid interfering with the tapes.

Do it again, as Simon Lambert – one of three others on the end of a Watters warning – found out to his cost, and you’re out. And the warning stays with you all meeting.

A warning in lieu of actual, immediate punishment, because only touching or breaking the tapes is an indictable offence  … but you still get to run your race and score points.

But surely ploughing through the tapes, getting a 0 in your race column, a spent race, being replaced by a team-mate who has to frantically find a helmet colour and mouthguard and fire up the bike and having to face the icy stare of a severely disgruntled team manager on your way back into the pits is punishment served?

And yet it seems even going early but not actually touching the ribbons is enough to send you to the starting naughty boy step again.

Ω The eagle-eyed will have noticed a new addition to the picnic table area on the first bend.

A colourfully decorated speedway bike took up residence for the first time courtesy of Mr Saturday Night Blair.

Aimed mainly at our steadily growing band of young fans – the more the merrier – it offers the opportunity to climb aboard, twist the throttle and dream of being crowned World Champion.

It’ll be there every Saturday night and what we would like is for you to share your poses with the Bandits Facebook or Instagram pages. We’ll keep a sharp eye out and the best and most original will earn themselves a little prize.

We would ask that parents and responsible adults keep a close eye on their charges. After all this is an ex-Greg Blair bike so it is likely, without warning, to get into some hairy situations.

Ω The tale of Dick Barrie and his lucky jacket, a black and gold ensemble, which proved the lucky omen on our run to 1989 Knockout Cup glory resonated with many.

His vow to bring it out of the loft to work its magic again on Saturday was just the boost that Jye and the boys needed pre-match.

It was, you see, according to folklore the reason we beat Poole to lift the cup in our last final. Spookily the 1989 tie – speedway rather than knotted – began with a four-point defeat at Poole with the jacket in attendance and it featured in the celebratory pictures after the 30-point second leg at Berrington Lough.

One thing Dick may have forgotten was that those meetings took place in September.

When the weather was most definitely not a 40-year high, pushing towards the 80s.

Not the weather for wearing a well-padded if somewhat moth eaten jacket. But fair play to Dick he had it on in the pits as Nick and Peter scored the points that won the tie.

Whether man or jacket are up for a trip to Plymouth is a story yet to be told.

Ω And a reminder that if you want to watch the Bandits relaunch their bid for the Cab Direct Championship play-offs against misfiring Oxford – including former Bandit Edward Kennett – for free then head to our Facebook and Insta accounts, comment, like and share on the post you find and a number of Golden Ticket winners will be selected throughout the week.

Not only do you get free admission for two, a pits tour, picture with your favourite rider but there’s also an opportunity to watch some racing from the centre green.

Ω  What a differece a few weeks makes.

Jordan Jenkins makes his Premiership debut for King’s Lynn tonight – alongside Cooper Rushen – travelling to Manchester to take on Peter Kildemand’s high-flying Belle Vue Aces.

May 15, 27 points from eight meetings for Redcar, top score 7+1 nought from three rides against Poole. Bearing the brunt of Redcar fans calling for changes, axed and replaced by Simon Lambert.

June 27. Scores 7+2, his lowest score in four meetings which have amassed 40 points in Bandits colours. Lambert scores three points, guesting for Poole, same Redcar fans now lamenting JJ’s departure.

Ying/yang?

Ω Previews of this weekend’s action to follow when the teams are confirmed.

Pictures Keith Hamblin