Berwick Bandits hopes for their highest-possible finishing slot in the Premier League table face a stern test this Saturday (6th) at Shielfield Park.

Redcar Bears – current holders of the coveted Jack Young Shield – are just one place below Berwick but with matches in hand, and look to have a formidable mixture of youth and experience in their Saturday-night line-up.

“Former World Champion Gary Havelock is a speedway legend, but still capable of beating anyone when the chips are down” agreed Bandits’ boss Peter Waite. 

“Add in James Grieves, still very much Scotland’s Number One, the exciting American Chris Kerr and two of the sport’s brightest young prospects in Australian Ty Proctor and British wonderkid Josh Auty, and you can see what I mean – this will be a very, very tough test for my injury-hit Dream Team!”

The match – which kicks off at 7pm -- will go a long way toward settling the final Premier League standings for the year – and decide which end-of–term tournament the Bandits (who are sponsored by Anderson’s Quality Butcher of North Berwick) will contest.

“We have just three regular-season league matches left” said Waite.

 “If we win them all, there is a wee chance we can finish fourth, and progress to the promotion play-offs, which would be a dream finish for our Dream Team – who were predicted by a whole gang of so-called experts to finish rock bottom before the campaign began!”

Even if the promotion play-offs prove a step too far, Waite’s wondermen will still feature in the end-of-term knock-out Jack Young Shield, contested by the eight clubs who do not reach a promotion position.   

“If we finish fifth in the table, it would perhaps be a blessing in disguise” explained a club spokesman. 

“That will give us first pick in the draw for Shield opposition – which offers the Bandits a very good chance of making the Jack Young competition (named in honour of the great Australian rider who remains the only lower-league man to have been crowned World Champion) an affair to remember!   

On Saturday, Berwick will be handicapped by the continued injury worries surrounding plucky little Finn Tero “The Hero” Aarnio and the absence of Hungarian Norbert Magosi.  

Put simply, it means the border club’s remaining riders will all have to be in top form to maintain their dramatic late-season charge up the table.   

The club’s recent good form has been under-pinned by high scoring from “The Bohemian Bandit”, 32-year-old Michal Makovsky.  

Now in his eighth season with the club, the former Czech champion enters Saturday’s fixture with an amazing 2,688 points to his credit.  

“Another 36 points over our remaining matches this year will see Michal overhaul the legendary Rob Grant as our second-highest point-scorer of all time” said a Berwick spokesman. 

“Given the enthusiasm with which he rides every lap of every race or every match, he should be good for another few thousand more before he quits!”