Cup final rehearsal, Jye update, tape twichers, Fiery PK, Masterful Sam

Saturday 11 July, 7pm: Plymouth Gladiators v R.E.D Bandits, powered by STS. Cab Direct Championship.

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First up an injury update on the skipper whose night ended painfully and abruptly during the eventful heat eight.

Monday morning dawns with news that there is nothing broken but doctors believe that it dislocated after he was the unlucky victim of the first bend domino, but has gone back into place on its own which was responsible for the extreme pain which led to Reggie being signed out of the action.

Having dropped just one point – to Trackmaster Masters – the pain was probably increased by seeing a potential big pay day slip away. A decision on fitness for Saturday will be made later in the week.

Ω Saturday sees the first of two cup final dress rehearsals as the Bandits head down to Devon and The Coliseum where their recent record is OK.

It might be 2014 since our last win at what was then known as the St Boniface Arena but we only lost by a point in 2023 and two last year.

Like us Plymouth had problems with Bears last weekend, in the absence of Danny King they were hammered 34-56 by a Redcar side led by former Plymouth star Nikolai Klindt.

King had suffered neck and shoulder injuries riding for Ipswich at King’s Lynn two nights’ previously and is missing from the Witches’ meeting at Leicester tonight and doubtful for the Gladiators’ trip to Oxford on Wednesday.

Plymouth will be hoping he recovers as in Saturday’s thumping Scott Nicholls was responsible for 16 of their points, Joe Thompson a further six and three guests – Chris Harris, Ryan Ingram and Tate Zischke just nine between them.

Ben Barker is a long-term injury absentee while Slovenian Anze Grmek has seen his impact cushioned by international calls.

Two-time New Zealand solo champion Ben Whalley, who began the season with Edinburgh’s National League side, joined as a replacement for Tom Spencer but he has also found points hard to come by.

At 216 metres the Plymouth track is 170 metres shorter than Shielfield Park which may be an eye-opener for Reid Battye who makes his first trip to the south west.

Others have more experience and all have enjoyed good meetings there in the past. Put them all together and there could be yet another “best performance in a decade” to go into the 2026 ledger.

Full preview later in the week.

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Ω  Talks did take place between the clubs about making Saturday and the reverse fixture at Shielfield Park on July 25 the cup final but they remain Championship fixtures.

In our original fixture list August 25 was the date reserved for the Knockout Cup Final but cup progress, BSPL events and the weather means that the original list has become more of an advisory document than a tablet of stone.

We hope to be able to confirm some restaging dates later in the week but, and it’s just a suggestion, don’t book yourself in for anything other than speedway on Saturdays during August!

Ω At one point heat eight on Saturday was triggering flashbacks to 2018 and “The Race”.

Just to jog the memory it was June 2018, Redcar were the visitors, Workington’s Ty Proctor – later to briefly be a Bandit – was guesting for the injured Ben Barker and by heat 13 the meeting was well and truly decided in Berwick’s favour.

A full 30 minutes later we were ready for heat 14, Nicolaj Busk Jacobsen  having beaten Thomas Jorgensen with only two men left standing, or not excluded, at the eighth attempt.

Jorgensen was twice on the deck – all four back – then Proctor who got up then broke the tapes and was out. Aaron Summers jumped on the fifth attempt, was knocked off by reserve replacement Nathan Greaves in the sixth and then excluded by referee Dave Watters after clashing with Jorgensen, words exchanged between them at the pits’ gate after the lights came on.

So the four attempts at getting heat eight run on Saturday was nothing.

The team managers that 2018 night, although no longer in post, still had a grandstand view of the 2026 lights, cameras, more lights, no action. Ben Duffill was atop a scaffolding tower behind a BSN camera while yards away in the pits Scott Courtney was playing “what happens next” along with everyone else.

Ω Luke Killeen was the ribbon shredder amongst the all-four-back first bends on Saturday and it should have come as little surprise as Shielfield Park is becoming known as the track which triggers tape twitchers.

In seven meetings in 2026 an assortment of referees have sent down 14 warnings and four sets of tapes have been consigned to starting area heaven. Only the cup visit of Workington went warningless.

Contrast that with Glasgow and Scunthorpe – two warnings from five meetings – Edinburgh – three from seven – Poole – four from six – and Plymouth six from six (four when Oxford visited).

Ω The Premier League football season is still six weeks away but Newcastle United has suffered its first serious injury – Bandits’ co-promoter Sarah Bulman.

Called up for the summer season of inter-departmental kickabouts Sarah, Safeguarding and Wellbeing Manager for Clubs and Partnership at St James’ Park went to unleash a Sheareresque thunderbolt on Thursday but instead ended up in a painful heap on the ground.

Diagnosis was a ruptured Achilles tendon but fortunately she was able to hobble home encased in a medical moonboot without needing surgery.

Over the years Sarah, who is also our medical and staff co-ordinator, has been the guardian angel for many a rider – Bandit and otherwise – who found themselves in Cramlington A&E, 70 miles from Shielfield, their equipment and sometimes even trousers and wallet.

So it’s only fair that a small army of friends mobilised to ensure that Sarah made it to Redcar on Friday and Shielfield the following night where she took up residence in one of the circuit buggies which she operated far more smoothly than an Asda disabled vehicle earlier in the day.

Six to eight weeks booted is the prognosis.

Ω More from Berwick’s very own Fireman Sam on Peter Kildemand’s machinery immolation at Belle Vue last week, clips of which have gone viral on the internet.

In addition to keeping his engine clean, Jamie Robertson was also first on the scene when his boss suddenly lit up the Manchester sky on Monday.

Seems that a broken chain was the cause of it all. Among the damage it caused was to both the ignition system and fuel line and quite simply methanol and electrics simply should not mix and left an expensive mess where once technology ruled.

Ω Last word on Saturday comes from Sam Masters.

Since joining Oxford in 2022 the New South Walian has been unbeaten by a Bandit in 18 of his 22 starts at Shielfield Park – that’s 13 race wins and five paid – usually behind Scott Nicholls – including the classic 2024 Super Heat when Drew Kemp and Lewis Kerr packed in behind him to give Berwick the extra point.

A shed chain while leading in 2025, headed home by Peter Kildemand in both this and last year’s heat 15s, second behind Kerr in 2024 and a last place behind guest Erik Riss and Leon Flint with the points already secured for the Cheetahs in 2023, are the only times the black and gold headed him home.

And his record with Edinburgh before was far from shoddy – two of the last three visits with the Monarchs were paid maximums – but his Oxford CMA around Berwick stands at 10.96.

“I don’t enjoy this track, but do enjoy it at the same time,” he admitted after the meeting.

“It’s hard to explain. It’s tiring and hard work and you have to race close to the fence, but I can make it work around here and walk away with a few points. I enjoyed my evening.”

Only Poole’s Richard Lawson and another ex-Edinburgh number one, Josh Pickering, come close to matching him around our unique raceway.

Pictures: Keith Hamblin