Around the Premier League Tracks 2007

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Saturday, 16 June

The weather claimed two more casualties again tonight. Waterlogged tracks caused the early cancellation of two Premier League matches - one at Workington where the Comets were due to race Somerset and the other at Stoke where the Potters were due to take on Edinburgh. The sole survivor was the match at Berwick where the Bandits raced against Glasgow.



Premier League: Berwick 43, Glasgow 48


Berwick were without Jaimie Robertson who had strained a muscle in his back. They used Rider Replacement instead at number 2. Glasgow were without Robert Ksiezak who is riding in Latvia tomorrow in an under-21 championship meeting and had Chris Schramm as a guest replacement at number 7.

Berwick had lost all eight consecutive league matches going into tonight’s clash and might have looked for an easier task than to take on Glasgow for whom Berwick has frequently been a happy hunting ground. Glasgow turned up with two former Berwick riders in their ranks both at reserve! Michael Coles rode at number 6 while Newport’s third heat leader, Chris Schramm, rode at number 7 as a guest.

The Bandits made a dreadful start to this match. In the opening heat George Stancl had a tapes to flag win while behind him David McAllan passed both David Meldrum and Stanislaw Burza to join him up front for a 1-5. They looked like adding another 1-5 in heat 2 when Michael Coles and Chris Schramm led the race until the last bend when Schramm fell. Even then the Bandits lost the race since Benji Compton had retired from the race resulting in only two finishers and a 2-3 to the Tigers. It got worse for the home side when they lost a 2-4 in the third heat. It wasn’t that way from the gate though as Michal Makovsky hit the front with Andreas Bergstrom in third place. However the home 4-2 turned into a 2-4 when, firstly, Lee Dicken passed Bergstrom when the Berwick rider made a hash of the second bend on lap 2 then Shane Parker reeled in Makovsky to pass him on the same bend on the last lap. In heat 4 Berwick stopped the rot by sharing the race. Jacek Rempala won the race, but with David Meldrum falling and retiring, Chris Schramm and Trent Leverington filled the minor places. The score was now 8-15.

Michal Makovsky won heat 5 but got no support from Andreas Bergstrom as Stancl and McAllan relegated him to the back for a 3-3. Then the same thing happened in heat 6. This time Stanislaw Burza won the heat but Leverington and Coles finished ahead of Compton for another shared race. Berwick then fell further behind as Glasgow scored another 2-4 in heat 7. Jacek Rempala led from the start but Shane Parker passed him coming off the second bend for a comfortable win. With Benji Compton retiring again at the back Lee Dicken was left to pick up the third place point for another Glasgow race advantage. Berwick now trailed by nine points and desperately needed a heat win to get back into the match so they gave Michal Makovsky a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres in heat 8 as he filled the spot due for the absent Jaimie Robertson. McAllan and Schramm led for the Tigers but Makovsky passed Schramm on the third lap for a second place to score four points. It didn’t give the home side an advantage though with Meldrum last. The heat was shared 4-4 and the score now stood at 20-29.

At last Berwick gave their fans something to cheer about when they took a 5-1 from heat 9. The race was awarded after Trent Leverington was excluded after taking off Andreas Bergstrom on the third lap with Makovsky and Bergstrom in first and second. This cut the gap to five points but Shane Parker prevented any further erosion of the Glasgow lead by winning heat 10 from Burza and Bergstrom for a shared race. The match was effectively over in the next race when George Stancl and David McAllan scored a 1-5. It didn’t look that way from the gate however as both home men made a good start. Stancl worked his way to the front on the second bend while McAllan passed Meldrum and Rempala to stretch the Tigers’ lead to nine points again. Shane Parker kept it that way by winning heat 12 from Meldrum and Makovsky and a shared race which took the score to 32-41.

In heat 13, Glasgow got the three points they needed to ensure an away victory. George Stancl, the early race leader, was passed by Stanislaw Burza but with Trent Leverington in third place ahead of Rempala the heat was shared. The Bandits then took a 5-1 from Heat 14 when Andreas Bergstrom and David Meldrum headed home Chris Schramm but it was too little, too late and only served to put a better reflection on the score. Shane Parker then completed his full maximum in heat 15 by beating Makovsky and Burza for another shared race and a five point win.


Scorers: For Berwick – Michal Makovsky 15+1 (6)(with a 4 point TR), Stanislaw Burza 10+1 (5), Andreas Bergstrom 6+2 (5), David Meldrum 6+1 (7), Jacek Rempala 6 (4), Benji Compton 0 (3).

For Glasgow – Shane Parker 15 (5)(full maximum), George Stancl 10 (4), David McAllan 8+3 (5), Michael Coles 5+1 (4), Trent Leverington 4+2 (4), Chris Schramm 4 (5), Lee Dicken 2 (3).