Briefing: Time to get the job done

Friday, 21 August, 7.30pm: Edinburgh Monarchs v R.E.D Bandits, powered by STS Cab Direct Championship Buy tickets Buy livestream

Saturday 22 August, 7pm: R.E.D Bandits, powered by STS v Redcar Bears, Cab Direct Championship Buy tickets

As indeed it should, the Bandits’ play-off destiny rests in their own hands as an epic Cab Direct Championship reaches its final weeks.

At stake is one of four play-of places.

We currently sit two positions and four points off fourth-placed Scunthorpe, both teams having raced 13 of their 16 fixtures.

Two points further on are Edinburgh Monarchs, also from 13 meetings. Two of their three remaining fixtures are against the Bandits, the third at Scunthorpe a week on Friday, the night before the Monarchs visit Shielfield Park in what could well be a winner takes all shootout for qualification.

Scunthorpe also have a home meeting against Workington – they are two points behind in the search for the aggregate bonus – and a tough trip to Glasgow left.

While Glasgow, along with Poole, are generally accepted as shoe-ins for qualification, the shock retirement of Kyle Howarth and injury to Mario Hausl has left the Tigers relying on guests in general and Nick Morris and Reid Battye in particular recently, the Berwick Aussies playing key roles in both the draw at Edinburgh and Friday’s win over Redcar.

But they will have to look elsewhere when the Pirates visit Glasgow on Friday, options limited by the other two meetings taking place on SuperFriday to Plymouth, Redcar or Oxford riders.

Glasgow also have less than straightforward visits to Redcar and Plymouth in the next 10 days. It is unlikely but – given their BSN Series experience – not impossible that they could get sucked back into the melee for qualification.

Who, where, when

While other teams will take points off each, the Bandits’ task is simple:

Three meetings

Eight available league points

Collect them all

Finish on 22 points.

If Berwick can do the double over the Monarchs then Edinburgh could still reach 23 points … if they won at Scunthorpe. Victory would give them the aggregate point after the teams drew at Armadale back in June.

That draw – and two against Glasgow in both the BSN Series and league – are the only blemishes on Edinburgh’s home record in 2026, Friday’s victory over Poole their seventh of the season in West Lothian. Although they have also been involved in four draws, against the Tigers and Scunthorpe and Redcar in the KO Cup first leg.

Jordy Loftus – who had begun to find impressive form, including paid 13 at Workington before suffering concussion in a crash at Poole – will be clear to return on Friday.

Berwick also expect to be at full strength with Jack Smith making his return from injury for Buxton and scoring paid nine in yesterday’s National Development victory over Middlesbrough Tigers in Derbyshire.

Peter Kildemand also shook off the effect of a rib injury which sidelined him against Poole and rode for Belle Vue at Northampton on Thursday.

Of course if Berwick were to pull off their first win at Armadale since 2023 they still need to not only defeat Redcar at Shielfield Park on Saturday but win by more than four points to collect the aggregate.

There was a time that the Bears were untouchable around our circuit but their five meeting winning streak has been unceremoniously turned on its head with the Bandits winning the last four, albeit the biggest victory being last year’s six-point split.

The return of Charles Wright – second in Saturday’s British Final and wildcard in the 2027 British GP – has given the Bears some extra teeth at the business end of the season. Nikolai Klindt may have covered his points but the Dane does not have the extra competitive edge which Wright brings to proceedings.

Ace Pijper is another who used the reach of ITV to put his progress on show to a wider public on Saturday. With Jake Mulford, Jason Edwards and Jody Scott also in the NSS field the Bears underlined their promise but also at times inconsistency.

Home defeats by Poole and Scunthorpe were mitigated by a thumping win at Plymouth the day after they had put the Bandits to the sword in the BSN Series semi-final first leg.

There’s arguably never been a bigger weekend for the Bandits, at least not in living memory.

If you’re under-16 and come along with an adult then it won’t cost you a penny. Another way to get free admission is to win one of the Golden Tickets given away by the Bandits’ Facebook and Instagram pages during the week. Free admission, a pits tour and watching racing from the centre green, what’s not to like?

Ω No direct involvement for the Bandits at the British Final on Saturday but plenty of Shielfield links to the big night at it made its live debut on ITV.

On track of course there were former Bandits Leon Flint and Drew Kemp who, it would be fair to say, had contrasting fortunes on the night, along with ex-Bullet Ace Pijper, tended to in the pits by dad Theo who had three separate spells in our colours.

A third former Berwick captain, Rory Schlein, was on the microphone for ITV4 while beavering away in the background acting as floor manager and rider/tv liaison was Greg Blair who, at one point in the presentation ceremony appeared to have been appointed keeper of the trophies.

Ω Viewing figures have yet to be released but it did appear that they were enough to impress ITV Sport bods who these days are based in studios in West London. In fact their offices in Wood Lane are in a complex built on the footprint of the White City stadium which, had it not been flattened in 1984, would have been a prime candidate to take over from Wembley as home of the World Final.

Instead the first-post Wembley British World Final was staged at Bradford’s Odsal Stadium in 1985. A meeting which was staged in the afternoon so that it could be shown live as part of the World of Sport programme.

Which was the last time that terrestrial TV showed a live speedway meeting in Britain.

Leading to another tangential Berwick link. As working away in the background at Bradford that afternoon while Dave Lanning – father of Phil, grandfather of Taylor – commentated to the nation, was meeting presenter Dick Barrie, himself an ITV commentator of some note.

Ω Star of the ITV4 broadcast was undoubtedly Cooper Rushen who enjoyed a more successful, and considerably less controversial, Saturday evening than he had seven days’ previously.

Ω As you would expect in a three-hour broadcast from a relative rookie broadcaster, Saturday was not without its moments but kudos to ITV execs for allowing it to run over it’s allotted slot which meant we got to hear some good, and in the case of Charles Wright emotional, post-match interviews with the podium sitters.

In doing so they were prepared to delay the EFL highlights programme which led to tens of thousands of football fans being accidentallty introduced to our world.