Berwick Bandits throw away 10-point lead in defeat to Poole Pirates

Two sensational rides from the diminutive Dane who struggles to get off the start line but has become a master of stalk and pass at Shielfield Park, gave some comfort to Berwick fans who watched their side throw away a ten point lead.

Briefly, when guest Josh Pickering and Rory Schlein hit the front in heat 15 they threatened to snatch a draw and send the meeting into a Superheat decider only for Richard Lawson to pick off the home skipper to ensure that the points went south. Final score 44-46.

Lawson has been instrumental in helping Berwick to wins against Edinburgh and Scunthorpe as a high-scoring guest this season but in his day job he broke Bandits’ fans hearts.

Poole managed to overcome the loss of Zach Cook after the Australian was pushed wide by team-mate Tom Brennan in his first ride and fell awkwardly, suffering a leg injury which ruled him out of the meeting and brought injured rider replacement into play.

Cook crashed with Jye Etheridge and Drew Kemp already crossing the line for the home side’s second 5-1 of the night – Pickering and Danyon Hume having left Lawson in their wake in the opening heat.

Sam Hagon has enjoyed a dream week, rattling in the points for Poole, winning the British under-21 qualifier and being recruited as Leicester’s Rising Star in the Premiership. A paid 12 score just added to the good feeling in the Essex teenager’s household.

Borke first had the crowd on its feet as he roared around Ben Cook to follow Schlein home giving the Bandits a 17-7 lead after four heats.

The track grade gave a rattled Poole side the chance to regroup and when racing resumed they were a side transformed, especially from the gate.

Their fightback began when Tobias Thomsen drove under both Kemp and Etheridge to join Lawson for a heat eight before narrowing the gap to two points with back-to-back 4-2s.

But the Bandits looked to have regained the initiative when Borke, the Dane produced what, even by his standards, was a sensational ride.

Hume once again did his job in heat eight, riding the perfect opening two bends and heading off into the sunset. All the action was behind where Perry and Thomsen filled the minor places, Borke’s determination to find a way past the pair hampered by his countryman’s lack of control which made overtaking hazardous.

But Borke stuck to their back wheels and when Thomsen almost wiped out his team-mate on the last bend the man from Silkeborg was silky smooth, pouncing and roaring through the middle of the pair to win the race for the line. He had the crowd roaring its approval and still had time to discuss the finer points of on-track etiquette with his countryman.

But all that good work disappeared within 65 seconds as tactical substitute Lawson and Ben Cook left Etheridge and Kemp well adrift in nine, Brennan and Hagon doubling down the misery to put Poole ahead for the first time.

Freddy Hodder produced a fine second place as Berwick at least managed to halt the momentum but the visitors provided five successive race winners, the most damaging in heat 13 when Cook followed Lawson home to all but wrap up the points for the visitors.

Heat 14 saw none of the four scheduled participants come to the tapes. Pickering was handed the tactical substitute ride and obliged for Berwick boss Stewart Dickson who must have had mixed feelings as Hagon – the teenager he has just signed as Leicester’s Rising Star – completed a paid twelve haul by keeping Borke at bay.

The unlikely momentarily seemed possible as Pickering and Schlein beat Lawson and Brennan to the first bend and held what would have been a match-levelling 5-1 for two laps only for Lawson to once again show that he is the master of Shielfield by roaring around the home skipper to take second place.