Super Reid leads Comets’ rout

2nd August 2026

News

George Dodds

R.E.D Bandits, powered by STS 56

Workington Comets 34

Stunning. Simply stunning.

Reid Battye’s paid 20-point haul, Victor Palovaara’s spectacular return to form, hammering Workington with only five riders, Peter Kildemand’s battles with Drew Kemp, Jye Etheridge continuing to be captain fantastic for the red dirt cowboys.

Take your pick.

Or the fact that in the scheme of a hugely expensive speedway bike something as cheap and nondescript as a chain guide could derail a Nick Morris maximum – paid or full about to be decided.

Or indeed the spectacular and awkward crash which ended Jack Smith’s meeting and meant team boss Stewart Dickson had to juggle resources and twice send a sole Bandit into the fray.

**Jack and Max Perry hit the deck in heat two**

No question his task was made easier by Battye whose evening began on the deck and ended somewhere approaching speedway heaven.

Almost 12 years to the day – August 30 2014 – since Matej Kus scored 20+1 against Redcar the hugely popular Aussie seemed set to follow the Czech into the Bandits record books.

While Kus already had three full Premier League seasons and a wealth of European experience under his belt before his entry into Berwick folklore this is Battye’s team racing and British speedway baptism. The decision to take a gamble on his racing pedigree despite a relative lack of experience and bring him over from Australia looks inspired.

He was the cherry on the top of the icing on the cake in a fantastic night’s entertainment as former Bandit Kemp and the impressive Tate Zischke fought a rearguard action against a rampant home side.

Kildemand set the tone for the night as far as Berwick was concerned by stalking for three laps and then swopping past countryman and former team-mate Jeppesen off the fourth bend giving Berwick a lead which kept adding to all night.

Heat two was epic for all the wrong reasons, Comet reserve Max Perry proving an immovable object on the first bend and being joined on the deck by first Battye and then Smith before Berwick scored a second 4-2 at the third attempt.

Already running rider-replacement for Jordan Jenkins, the home side then lost Smith with a hip injury when he fell spectacularly on the final bend under intense pressure from guest Kevin Juhl Pedersen, having held the Dane at bay for almost all of the race.

**Aussie elbows as Tate Zischke and Jye Etheridge fight for the same piece of track**

Palovaara won the race impressively and looked a rider rejuvenated after a tough run of meetings which yielded just 11 points from the previous four outings, a figure he had almost covered by the end of a night when a smile made a welcome return to the Swede’s face.

The meeting was over as a contest after back-to-back 5-1s, Morris and Battye riding the Kemp line to relegate the Berwick cult hero to third in his opening ride.

Battye was at it again in the next heat, bouncing off the back straight fence and threatening to collect the other three riders before heading off into the distance.

Heat six was speedway at its best, even though there wasn’t actually a pass, as Kemp and Kildemand used every inch of the track over four frantic laps before the Comets man recorded their first race win of the night.

Even when they hit the front the visiting riders were soon hauled in, Battye and Etheridge making short shrift of Niklas Holm Jakobsen in eight and then Palovaara, riding solo, biding his time, working inside and out before throwing the perfect speedway dummy to pass Jeppesen and spoil Workington’s tac sub gamble.

Jeppesen’s unhappy return continued as Morris and Battye relegated him from first to third in the space of a back straight during a golden period for the Bandits which saw them rattle in four 5-1s in five heats. Kildemand and Etheridge took care of Zischke before Battye swooped around Holm Jakobsen to join Morris at the front of 12.

Morris looked like he was preparing to complete a programmed maximum but suddenly pulled back from the tapes and was gesturing frantically to the pits after his chain was knocked free. There was no way of beating the two-minute allowance but, even starting off a 15-metre handicap and aboard Palovaara’ s machine, he almost caught Jeppesen – Kildemand getting revenge over Kemp up front.

For six bends of the penultimate race Battye’s dream maximum was on only for Zischke to produce extraordinary speed off the second bend and roar past his countryman. Still there weren’t too many glum faces in the Bandits pits after the race, Battye’s achievement – just three months after suffering a serous back injury last time the teams met.

Kemp and Zischke had fought a largely unaided battle to stem the tide of Bandits’ points and pairing them together in 15 at least allowed the to end on a high with a 5-1.

Onto the GT Tyres Arena this afternoon, the bonus point all but done and dusted but far from the only target.