Berwick Bandits performed an escape act worthy of Harry Houdini himself, defeating the Birmingham Brummies in the final of 30 heats of the quarter final to sneak entry into the semi final by two slender points.
The second leg was delayed by 40 minutes thanks to a vicious rain shower some 90 minutes before start time, but with the cooperation of both managements and sets of riders, assisted by the track staff who worked to get the rain damaged track into shape.
With times slower than the normal, the meeting was kept alive by the closeness of the score with Birmingham holding the upper hand until the moment it really mattered, in the final two heats by which time the racing had significantly improved as well to keep the crowd on its feet.
Paul Clews was the luckiest rider on show, escaping serious injury in a Heat 13 that saw Tomasz Piszcz hit a fearfully grippy patch taking out himself, Clews and Craig Watson, with all walking back to the pits to race again.
Jason Doyle was a superb guest, with Lee Dicken also weighing in with vital points from his guest booking whilst the Brummies big three, Piszcz, Watson and Jason Lyons kept plugging away to keep the visitors well in with a shout, although their second string guest, Anders Andersen struggled badly, whilst their reserve guest Ben Taylor put in an excellent Shielfield Park debut.
Heat One: almost started without Andersen whose bike was struggling to start, and indeed caused him to fail to beat the time allowance first time round sending him to the 15 metre handicap line, from where he struggled to get back on terms with the rest who adapted well to conditions (4-2 / 4-2 / 46-52).
Heat Two: saw the impressive Taylor lead into bend one, but Smith soared round him on the second to take up a big lead, as the ones behind suffered from the mud blocking their vision and ending their challenges (4-2 / 8-4 / 50-54).
Heat Three: gave Lyons the chance to shine early on from a deadly gate as Dicken shot under Andersen on bend three, just before the guest fell although the race continued to it’s conclusion, a split of the points as Birmingham remained in front over all (3-3 / 11-7 / 53-57).
Heat Four: put both Brummies in front on bend one, but Smith shot under Taylor on bend two with Clews at the rear, but Taylor fell on the second lap allowing another shared heat to be recorded (3-3 / 14-10 / 56-60).
Heat Five: had Piszcz leading from the gate but the hard-chasing Makovsky flew round bend four diving beneath the Brummie who fell down the home straight leading to Makovsky’s exclusion from the re-run, in which Franchetti jetted from the gate, but was passed by Piszcz on bend two as Birmingham hauled two points back (2-4 / 16-14 / 58-64).
Heat Six: gave another easy win for Doyle from the gate whilst at the back Jay Herne passed Dicken, briefly before the Bandit’s guest returned the compliment and wound up an impressive chase on Watson, who just held on as Berwick pulled two closer on aggregate to the elusive overall lead (4-2 / 20-16 / 62-66).
Heat Seven: bounced away from the gate with a new lease of life with the Bandits tucking in behind although Clews made up an enormous amount of ground on the flying Aussie over the final two laps as did Andersen behind Franchetti (3-3 / 23-19 / 65-69).
Heat Eight: Piszcz and Taylor led on bend one with Smith and Dicken passing Taylor round bend two and took a sizable lead over him although in turn a mile behind Piszcz (3-3 / 26-22 / 68-72).
Heat Nine: put Makovsky in the lead on bend one with Herne spinning off behind with a straight forward 4-2 the result as Berwick pulled a little closer on aggregate (4-2 / 30-24 / 72-74).
Heat 10: and yet again Lyons hit the front in a well strung out race (3-3 / 33-27 / 75-77).
Heat 11: opened with a tight first bend with Watson battling to the front as Clews had no hope of stopping a Piszcz pass down the back straight in a devastating maximum for the visitors who bounced right back into it, and six up on aggregate once more (1-5 / 34-32 / 76-82).
Heat 12: saw Makovsky and Lyons get a touch close on bend one with the Brummie falling for an expected all-four-back re run when the pair get close once more on the same bend but this time Makovsky took a hard-fought lead as Smith took third from Taylor (4-2 / 38-34 / 80-84).
Heat 13: and Piszcz took massive drive on inside on bend two lifting dramatically and clattered sidelong into Clews wiping the Bandit out with Watson also in the middle of the confusion. Piszcz and Watson eventually to their feet and walked back to pit with Clews getting medical attention on the grass but he too amazingly got to his feet 5 minutes later and walk back to bend three with Piszcz excluded and in the re-run the Bandits skinned a lack-lustre Watson from the gate to take an enthusiastic 5 position easily to the end levelling the tie on aggregate 85-85 (5-1 / 43-35 / 85-85).
Heat 14: started with Taylor falling on bend one alone but remounted as Bandits roared to another five points easily over Andersen as Taylor retired lap three to set up the final race perfectly with a 1-5 the Brummies only hope to force a two man run off (5-1 / 48-36 / 90-86).
Heat 15: and all was tense with Lyons away but Makovsky's huge force under Piszcz off bend two set the race alight with all four trying everything possible with Doyle crashing out going round Piszcz on bend two last lap but the race finished with Berwick going through to the Young Shield semi final thanks to a superb race from Makovsky (2-4 / 50-40 / 92-90).
Berwick promoter Peter Waite said: “We really worked hard for this success, as a team here and at Birmingham. We were brilliant and the result was awesome.
“It was sheer determination that has got us in to the Young Shield semi finals and it will be that same determination that could take us to our first major final in years!”
“Anderson’s Quality Butchers” Berwick Bandits 50 (92)
1. Jason Doyle (guest) 3,3,2,3,F = 11
2. Lee Dicken (guest) 1,1*,1,1*,1* = 5+3
3. Michal Makovsky 2,X,3,3,2 = 10
4. Tero Aarnio – Rider replacement
5. Paul Clews 2,2,1,2*,3 = 10+1
6. Guglielmo Franchetti ® 1,2,1*,0,N = 4+1
7. Scott Smith ® 3,1*,2,1,1,2* = 10+2
Birmingham “BRC Roofing” Brummies 40 (90)
1. Tomasz Piszcz 2,3,3,2*,Fx,1 = 11+1
2. Kyle Legault – Rider replacement
3. Jason Lyons © 3,3,3,2,3 = 14
4. Anders Andersen (guest) 0,F,0,0,1 = 1
5. Craig Watson 3,2,2,3,1 = 11
6. Jay Herne ® 0,0,0,N = 0
7. Ben Taylor (guest) ® 2,0,1,0,0,R = 3
