Monday debrief …

Well have you got your breath back after Saturday’s superb victory over the Monarchs from Edinburgh?

A sensational last heat effort from Rory, and super guest Richard Lawson’s successful efforts to keep the hard-charging Josh Pickering at bay meant that a meeting which seemed to be heading to a Super Heat became our fourth win out of four this season.

But it is the one where we had to dig deepest and overcome most adversity to clinch.

With Lewis Kerr watching at home from the comfort of his settee, his broken ankle in a plaster cast, the last thing we wanted was to see more Bandits bite the dirt.

There were huge exhalations of breath after Jye picked himself off the deck, his bike having taken off going into the first bend. Fortunately, he managed to get off the machine before it clattered into the second bend fence.

By the time Jye had walked back to the pits the pain gave way to annoyance that points had been gifted to the visitors by the wild looking crash.

For a rider who enjoys putting one over his former employer this was a quiet night for Reggie, not helped by referee Jim McGregor’s decision to exclude him from heat five.

One of a number of times that the veteran button pusher and the Berwick fans were at odds on the night.

Safe to say on another day the first running may have ended with all four invited back due to first bend bunching or even a white or yellow exclusion light rather than the red one illuminated.

Another difference of opinion followed his decision to warn only Drew Kemp after both he and Pickering seemed to move before the tapes went up for the second rerun.

Pickering was warned in heat 11 but even then the decision to put on the red lights with Schlein and Freddy Hodder roaring off into the distance allowed the Monarchs’ number one a second bite at the cherry, one he accepted by storming to his fourth victory of the night.

And the decision to invite all four riders back in heat 14 after Paco Castagna sent Borke flying, hitting our young thrill-maker’s back wheel from behind, caused further uproar.

The Dane was unable to take his place in the rerun and was off to hospital for a nine-hour wait in A&E before getting the all clear following the horrible-looking crash. Castagna hobbled back to the pits and won the rerun, Connor Coles’ third place levelling the scores and setting up the last heat thriller.

Edinburgh managed a further three heat wins on top of Pickering’s heroics as they justified their pre-meeting tags as a dark horse team with strength in depth.

Also spare a thought for Danyon Hume who had as unusual a scorecard as you could imagine from his night.

Danyon dropped only one point to an opponent – including huge heat wins in eight and ten, a real match-winning performance, but got the big hook from his other ride, allowing team manager Stewart Dickson to play the tactical sub card. Successfully.

It was also a real shift from our skipper, capped by that epic heat 15 amid scenes and an atmosphere unmatched for years at Sheffield.

The Jewson Bandits, powered by Keenwood Karpets, once again proved that the 2024 vintage is capable of victory even when the odds seem stacked against them.

All three home meetings have been superb adverts for Saturday night racing and the team’s desire to win has even won the seal of approval from notoriously hard to please boss Stewart Dickson.

“Edinburgh asked a lot of questions of us,” he said. “And we had a lot of answers.

“We were not making the starts which left us with a lot of work to do. That’s not to say Edinburgh didn’t race well, they certainly did and adapted better to a track made slightly heavy by an unscheduled downpour 20 minutes before start time.

“We had a couple of refereeing decisions go against us and then lost points when Jye crashed while comfortably second.

“And to lose Bastian in that manner in heat 14 was a big blow.

“But when it came down to it Rory and Richard did the job and our winning start to the season continues.”

The Scot’s tactical awareness also played a part in the victory. His clinical decision to pull Danyon Hume from heat six and use Schlein as a tactical substitute paid dividends as he and Lawson staged a dress rehearsal for their later heroics by relegating Justin Sedgmen and Max James to the back.

“That might have been a bit harsh on Danyon but my gut instinct was that we had to make the tactical switch straight away,” Dickson explained.

“Danyon responded by going out in his next race and setting up a 5-1 with Bastian which gave us the lead again.”

Both teams used the tactical substitute option on the night, Alex Harkness’ decision to pitch Pickering into heat 12 paying dividends too but only after Etheridge had crashed spectacularly on the last lap while holding second place.

But in the end Schlein was able to lead his team to victory. “I’ve told the lads I’m not doing six rides every week – we need to get it won quicker,” he joked after the meeting.

“We had to dig deep against a good Edinburgh side but we got the job done.”

Pictures: Keith Hamblin