PK and Jack lead Bandits bounceback

R.E.D Bandits, powered by STS      53

Oxford Cheetahs  35

Peter Kildemand and reserve Jack Smith led the Bandits’ bounceback as they recovered from Friday’s cup disappointment to put vital league points on the board.

In a night of high-speed, and at times frantic, racing they led the charge against a visiting side beholden to number one and captain Sam Masters.

Kildemand it was who finally foiled what would have been the Australian’s third maximum at Shielfield but it took the ultra-classy Dane until heat 15 and the third attempt to lower the Cheetahs’ number one’s colours.

The only dark cloud was an elbow and shoulder injury for Jye Etheridge who found himself on the outside of a domino takedown in a bruising heat eight which needed to be rerun three times. Withdrawn from the meeting, largely as a precaution, the skipper will decide tomorrow whether a trip to hospital is needed to check out the damage.

Masters lacked much back-up although two Cheetahs at the opposite end of their careers – Edward Kennett and Mitch McDiarmid, along with Darryl Ritchings, worked hard for relatively little reward.

That was in large because, unlike the previous night, even when the Bandits missed the gate they were able to find gaps to power through with a string of moves which left the polyfoam barrier and back straight fence screaming for mercy.

The first inkling of what to come was as early as heat two when Reid Battye boomed from the start but Smith needed every inch of the track to round Ritchings coming out of the second turn. Victor Palovaara and Jordan Jenkins then got into the act, cutting back inside the fast-starting Kennett.

Nick Morris was largely untroubled in the second running of four, Dayle Wood continuing his less than happy return to the Borders by demolishing the tapes and, after Masters – although he had to be ultra-brave down the back straight as Palovaara squeezed him toward the fence – briefly paused the Bandits’ points rush with a shared heat five, the meeting was effectively ended as a serious contest.

Anders Rowe’s tapes exclusion set up what could only be as the double mugging of Ritchings. The Oxford reserve made a dream start, sent into the dirt by Kildemand’s solid nudge,  and led coming off the fourth bend. He glanced over his shoulder to see Etheridge roaring around him and but seemed oblivious to the Dane’s clinical undertaking, the Bandits pair roaring off into the distance to celebrate a hugely entertaining 5-1.

Smith’s determination to join Morris at the front of seven paid off again before a hugely eventful heat eight which began with first Battye and then Etheridge hit the deck, Smith replacing his skipper who withdrew from the meeting, for take three which ended with Luke Killeen demolishing the tapes. At the fourth attempt saw Battye’s cutout came adrift, leaving him stranded on the start line, Smith continuing his perfect night with a second race win, maintaining his side’s 18-point lead in the process.

That prompted Masters’ introduction as a tactical substitute and he led Rowe home to a heat nine 5-1 but Kildemand took to the bottom of the fence to get past Kennett who kept Berwick’s number one on his toes until, for the second time in the night, his engine expired.

That was something of a turning point as a couple of Cheetahs’ lower order began to get to grips with the track and claim a minor moral victory by “winning” the last seven heats 20-22.

McDiarmid, another exciting teenage talent from Down Under who will compete in this year’s SGP2, led the fightback, Kennett also finally produced the race he’d threatened all night winning heat 12, Ritchings edging out Battye for Oxford’s second heat advantage of the night.

Kildemand and Masters took it to the limit in a spectacular heat 13, one of three shared heats including 14 when McDiarmid got the wide line working to pass first Jenkins and then become, after Masters, the only other Oxford rider to head Smith home despite smacking into the second bend fence at high speed.

Heat 15 always looked like a recipe for incident and drama and so it proved.

McDiarmid’s attempt to clamp down on Kildemand, in turn being pushed out by Masters, ended with the teenager falling and collecting Morris who was flung, face-first into the fence bags.

Amazingly both riders were almost immediately back on their feet but Morris was in no position to line-up in the rerun, Palovaara taking his place.

As with Josh Pickering when Scunthorpe visited a few weeks ago, there was a distinct feeling that Kildemand was not going to tolerate being on the end of a third Masters defeat and he made straight for the dirt line, staying there over four electric laps, the Cheetahs’ main man trying everything to find a way round.

Bumps and bruises aside this was the type of Berwick display we have come to expect in 2026, at least at home.

The smooth return of Battye to the fold and continued scoring power of Smith bodes well for a busy run of fixtures which will ultimately decide who reached the play-offs.

Bandits: Peter Kildemand 11+1, Jye Etheridge 5, Victor Palovaara 9, Joran Jenkins 4+2, Nick Morris 9+1, Jack Smith 10+3, Reid Battye 5

Cheetahs: Sam Masters 17, Luke Killeen 0, Edward Kennett 3, Mitch McDiarmid 8+1, Darryl Ritchings 5, Dayle Wood 1+1

It’s getting tight behind Masters with Dayle Wood finding it uncomfortable outside Reid Battye

Pictures: Keith Hamblin