Pirates plunder all three points

FTS BANDITS, POWERED BY KEENWOOD KARPETS    40

POOLE PIRATES   50

All good things must come to an end. At the 12^th attempt Poole finally travelled south from north Northumberland with victory under their belts.

It was a hard-earned one secured by three successive 5-1s between heats 11 and 13 which finally put a battling Bandits’ side in their place.

Positives aplenty from the homes side even after another defeat – the return from injury of Rory Schlein, a combative debut from Hans Andersen, the continued inspirational form of skipper Leon Flint, another solid home display from Jye Etheridge. Indeed, there was a general unwillingness to accept defeat against a Poole side lining up another  raid on the Championship silverware.

Once again, they were masterfully led by Richard Lawson and Steve Worrall, but ultimately victory was secured by two of the lesser lights, one borrowed for the night.

Zach Cook may be the less talked about of the two Australian brothers, but he is definitely the most effective around Shielfield while Lee Complin continues to be the guest ringer of choice, having already enjoyed victories with Edinburgh and Workington while also tasting success with his own sides Glasgow and Mildenhall this year.

And he fired the first shot across the home bows, leading Anders Rowe to a heat two 5-1 over Connor Coles and Berwick’s other debutant, Steve Boxall. It was an early warning on a night when the visiting reserves outscored their home counterparts 11-2.

Berwick responded in kind, Etheridge controlling heat three from the front as he earned back some of the £300 fine imposed by the SCB this week following his altercation with Redcar’s Connor Bailey seven days ago. But it took Flint every inch of the four laps to get past Zach Cook, finally reeling him in feet from the chequered flag, the 5-1 levelling the scores.

After Andersen marked his home debut by cutting inside Worrall off the second bend and then categorically rebuffing the Pirates’ captain’s efforts down the back straight, the 3/4 partnership struck again, Flint outgating and outfighting Richard Lawson with his Australian partner keeping Kyle Newman at bay to give the Bandits the slenderest of leads.

Briefly, as it was all square again after Schlein was held off by Worrall and Poole regained the lead when Zach Cook roared up the inside of Andersen, brother Ben taking the vital third.

The match then swung conclusively the visitors’ way in heat eight as Newman and Complin raced from the tapes with neither Coles nor Knudsen able to get back in touch with the Pirates. Even worse Coles shed a primary chain going into the third bend of the last lap, falling awkwardly.

Fortunately, Knudsen was able to react and lay down his bike, but momentum meant he still crashed heavily into his team-mate, his bike shattering the helmet of Coles who had landed in an incredibly awkward position. To the relief of all he was soon back on his feet, shaken and battered, as well as burned by Knudsen’s hot machine exhaust, his night over.

Flint and Etheridge maintained the six-point deficit with a shared heat in nine allowing team manager Kev Little to play his tactical card.

Andersen made a high-speed hash of the first bend in 11 but it played into the Bandits’ hands, the chaos caused by the Dane’s tight entry to the bend and subsequent drift towards the fence opening up a gap which Schlein gratefully drove through, the Dane recovering to relegate the Cook brothers to the minor point, reducing the deficit to two.

Poole response was brutal, Lawson and Newman blocking out Andersen, Ben Cook and Rowe leaving Etheridge and Boxall in their wake and then Worrall holding off a four-lap onslaught from Schlein and being allowed to take the flag by team-mate Lawson who had been untroubled up front.

Despite the match being beyond their reach the Bandits ended a disappointing night strongly.

The return of regular home fixtures has allowed Berwick fans to see their young skipper at his best and he once again was the star of heat 14, holding off a determined effort from Zach Cook with Boxall, despite losing his fuel cap during the race, making it a 4-2.

He then watched from third place as Schlein and Lawson ended the night with another monumental battle, the Australian just having a good enough run off the fourth bend to the line as he won by half a bike’s length.

It capped an impressive return from injury for the winter signing as he topped the scorecharts, a point ahead of his young skipper.

Bandits: Rory Schlein 11, Jonas Knudsen 2+1, Jye Etheridge 7, Leon Flint 10+2, Hans Andersen 8+1, Steve Boxall 2, Connor Coles 0

Pirates: Richard Lawson 12+1, Kyle Newman 5+1, Ben Cook 4, Zach Cook 7, Steve Worrall 11, Anders Rowe 5+2, Lee Complin 6+2