Another big weekend for bubbling Bandits

A second cup semi-final and the opportunity to kick-start a run for the play-offs. There is no such thing as a run-of-the-mill weekend for the R.E.D Bandits, powered by STS in 2026.

First comes Friday’s BSN semi first-leg at Redcar. Reid Battye is back from injury while now full-time Bandit Jordan Jenkins returns to the track where he began the 2026 campaign.

Forced to rebuild by the controversial “one-over-eight” rule, Redcar chose Charles Wright over Danny King as their spearhead and built a solid looking team with plenty of potential.

Wright didn’t make it to the tapes for an official match damaging his shoulder after crashing in the traditional curtain-raiser challenge against a Newcastle select.

Nikolai Klindt was recruited as a replacement and Redcar finishing three points clear at the top of the BSN Northern Section, beating Workington home and away and hammering Scunthorpe at home after losing in Lincolnshire.

They beat Edinburgh in the KO Cup, drawing at Armadale, only to suffer a two-point aggregate loss to Plymouth in the semi-final, King coming back to haunt them by joining Scott Nicholls to take a 5-1 in the last-heat decider.

It was a different story in the Cab Direct Championship where, despite an 18-point maximum from Klindt, the Bears could manage only 36 at Poole and just three more when the Pirates raced the reverse fixture at the Ecco Arena.

Rain washing out the scheduled visit to Shielfield Park gave the Bears’ management time to think and their decision was to release Jenkins and replace him with Simon Lambert, himself recently jettisoned by Scunthorpe.

Fate dictated that Scunthorpe were the next visitors to Cleveland, that Lambert’s replacement Dan Gilkes scored heavily, he didn’t and Scunthorpe travelled home victorious.

Two weeks later Jenkins made his debut for Berwick, a match-winning 13-point haul against Glasgow, and hasn’t looked back since.

Ace Pijper, Jody Scott and Jake Mulford – crowned World under-21 longtrack champion for the second time – have been bright spots in a difficult run winter signing Jake Allen, Klindt and Jason Edwards struggled for consistency.

Clawing a ten-point deficit back to beat Oxford and then winning a Super Heat for the aggregate point at Cowley got them off the mark and they followed that up by defeating Edinburgh last week.

But there is a feeling that they have still to settle and can be vulnerable even at home.

It’s much the same with Oxford whose winter team building plans largely revolved around bringing Erik Riss in to provide big-hitting back-up for the ever-reliable Sam Masters with the talented Anders Rowe switching from Poole.

It was a plan that lasted one meeting before the German was laid low by the virus which has blighted his recent career.

Behind the scenes the loss of streaming money for the greyhound operation threatened the club’s very future and it took Herculean efforts from promoter Jamie Courtney to keep the doors open, two new investors helping secure the long-term future of the Cheetahs.

They pulled a rabbit out of the hat by persuading 39-year-old Edward Kennett to step into Riss’s shoes temporarily but – in line with their recent luck illness sidelined him after just one meeting.

Most of the attention is on 18-year-old Mitch McDiarmid, who qualified for the SGP2 series for a second year last weekend, and Luke Killeen who is now back on track after suffering rib injuries in the home league defeat by Poole.

Both are exciting talents and Oxford have leant heavily on them but have still drawn a blank on the road in 2026 while also losing at home to Glasgow and Poole.

But they do have a good record at Shielfield two wins and a draw including last season’s Masters-inspired two point win.

And a secret weapon in Dayle Wood, the popular 31-year-old who spent last year with the Bandits and has found the Sandy Lane circuit very much to his liking with three paid double figure scores already this season.

Rider safely dismounted, mechanic Jamie Robertson turns fireman to save Peter Kildemand’s bike. Picture: Ian Charles 

And the Bandits? Well two heroes of Saturday night came down to earth with a bang on Monday.

Peter Kildemand still managed to look classy and elegant as he rapidly dismounted his machine after it caught fire crossing the line in heat three of Belle Vue’s Premiership clash with King’s Lynn.

On the other side of the pits Jordan Jenkins’ debut for King’s Lynn also yielded few points and on the way home he totalled his van following a collision with a deer.

Nick Morris, who looks to be getting back to his daredevil best, especially around Shielfield Park’s polyfoam bags, is in action for Leicester against Northampton tomorrow night as a warm-up for the semi-final.

The speed of recovery means that it is easy to overlook the severity of the injuries which sidelined Battye in April and it is fanciful to expect him to return immediately to the level of scoring before the crash against Workington.

But with Jack Smith in the form of his career and Jye Etheridge also banging in the points there is a mood of confidence among Bandits supporters.

It could very well be a big weekend – another one. They just keep on coming.

“We’re taking nothing for granted. Each fixture has to be treated the same. Prepare, work hard and everyone does their jobs, then we’ll see where we are at the end of 15 heats,” team manager Stewart Dickson said.

“Last week was good but we start again on Friday night.”

Tickets are on sale for Saturday night’s clash with Oxford at Shielfield Park are on sale here or you can pay cash on the gates which open at 6pm.

Bandits: Peter Kildemand, Jye Etheridge, Victor Palovaara, Jordan Jenkins, Nick Morris, Jack Smith, Reid Battye

Bears: Nikolai Klindt, Simon Lambert, Jake Mulford, Jason Edwards, Jake Allen, Ace Pijper, Jody Scott

Cheetahs: Sam Masters, Luke Killeen, Edward Kennett, Mitch McDiarmid, Anders Rowe, Darryl Ritchings, Dayle Wood