Berwick v IOW 31 May 08

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Anderson’s Quality Butchers Berwick Bandits 46

Isle of Wight Wightlink Islanders 44

(Premier League)

Berwick Bandits knew they were in for a tough battle with the Islanders, and with a match only decided in a scorching Heat 15, no one went home disappointed.

Adrian Rymel was back to skipper his side after his break on European Championship duty last week and stormed back with a paid maximum, whist his Czech-mate Michal Makovsky suffered a blow to his scoring when he shed a chain.

With Finn Tero Aarnio out with broken ribs, Kozza Smith, the all-action Australian from King’s Lynn deputised and whilst only scored five points, they were all vital ones and he injected a wild-style of entertainment as only Kozza can.

Adam McKinna, dropped two weeks ago, was back to cover for the injured Scott Smith as a Conference League guest and picked up a couple of useful points, with rider replacement only providing two points to cover Norbert Magosi who was racing in the Hungarian National Championships.

For the Isle of Wight, Paul Fry was a non-starter having originally proclaiming to be making his comeback from injury in this match, but now it’s looking as it he may even miss his next home match this coming Tuesday night.

Overall the Islanders were fairly solid throughout led admirably by Krzysztof Stojanowski, but when push came to shove the Bandits had the straw to tip the balance.

HEAT ONE: saw Bunyan take an initial lead, but Rymel turned on the power on the second bend to rocket around him and take a lead whilst Gathercole was looking surprisingly jaded by comparison to his first visit three weeks previous (3-3 / 3-3).

HEAT TWO: Clews turn to make the fast gate, but it was Holder complete with broken bones in his hand, who shot passed the Bandit on the second bend as Clews engaged in a great race-long battle with the Holder grabbing the three points (3-3 / 6-6).

HEAT THREE: was the heat where Berwick broke the scoring to their advantage but it was Phillips who took the early lead until Makovsky chased hard down the back straight, passing the Islander entering bend three as Holder struggled at the back in total contrast to Heat Two placing fears in the visitor’s minds that maybe his hand injury was getting worse (4-2 / 10-8).

HEAT FOUR: looked like the chance for the Island to break back into the lead as both Stojanowski and Bargh jetted away from the tapes to lead well but Atkin caught up with and shot round Bargh down the back straight with McKinna doing likewise on the fourth bend as Stojanowski pulled ever further ahead (3-3 / 13-11).

HEAT FIVE: was another share of the spoils once the gate worked correctly, with Makovsky in control from the off with Bunyan chasing well before the Bandit eased further ahead on lap two as Smith fell on the first bend of lap three (3-3 / 16-14).

HEAT SIX: going into bend one, the Wildman of Norfolk, Kozza Smith was sitting in last place but picked up an enormous amount of drive and speed to soar round the entire field, including a most surprised Rymel, by the time he hit the back straight in a sensational piece of overtaking that sparked a deafening roar from the crowd with Holder retiring again, looking sore (5-1 / 21-15).

HEAT SEVEN: had to be re-run following another super-fast gate from Bargh and Phillips, but in pursuit, Atkin fell on the fourth bend of the first lap stopping the race with his exclusion, and in the re run Clews upped his speed from the gate to shoot under Bargh for second place, although Phillips was well out in front as the Isle of Wight pulled two back (2-4 / 23-19).

HEAT EIGHT: and they pulled two more back as Gathercole finally found his Berwick form of old to lead well from the gate as McKinna struggled to keep control at the back during the middle laps (2-4 / 25-23).

HEAT NINE: saw Berwick remain two points up as Stojanowski took a massive lead over Makovsky (3-3 / 28-26).

HEAT 10: was awarded a split when Rymel and Smith made another fine gate to lead with Phillips chasing hard behind once he recovered from almost falling on bend one, but as he caught up Smith on the fourth bend of lap three, Smith spun dramatically causing him and Phillips to fall with Smith being excluded and the race awarded with both fallers thankfully in good shape (3-3 / 31-29).

HEAT 11: was the chance for Bunyan and Gathercole to develop a massive lead on the opening bends but Clews clawed back a lot of ground on laps three and four, but not enough to stop the away maximum and the visitors taking the lead (1-5 / 32-34).

HEAT 12: saw Berwick regain the lead once more as Makovsky and Clews out-gated the usually sharp Phillips and Bargh although Phillips was all over the back end of Makovsky on lap two, almost passing the Czech until the Berwicker powered up to run well ahead on lap three to clinch the maximum (5-1 / 37-35).

HEAT 13: had Rymel show Stojanowski the very wide line on bend one for the home captain to take a 15 length lead at the end of lap one with Atkin putting the effort in at the rear, unable to make the pass (3-3 / 40-38)

HEAT 14: and this time it was Stojanowski’s chance to show Makovsky that very wide line as he took the lead and Makovsky went to the back, and retiring on the fourth bend due to a shed primary chain as the Islanders levelled the match with one heat to go (2-4 / 42-42).

HEAT 15: was a superb race to end a great meeting as Rymel shot out to lead early on, jetting round Stojanowski on bend one, with Makovsky trying the same, only on the inside just missing out to the Islander’s top man off bend two but Makovsky made a superb race of it catching Stojanowski up repeatedly but nearly lost his one point to a fast finishing Gathercole who stealthily caught up Makovsky, giving the Czech the fright of his life on the run to the flag, the Berwicker JUST taking the third place for the point that won the match for the home side (4-2 / 46-44).

Andersons Quality Berwick Bandits 46

Adrian Rymel © 3,2*,3,3,3 = 14+1
Kozza Smith (guest) 0,F,3,2,Fx = 5
Michal Makovsky 3,3,2,2*,R,1 = 11+1
Norbert Magosi – Rider Replacement
Tony Atkin 2,Fx,1*,R,0 = 3+1
Paul Clews ® 2,1,2,1,3,2 = 11
Adam McKinna® 1*,1*,0,N = 2+2


Isle of Wight Wightlink Islanders 44

Jason Bunyan 2,2,3,1* = 8+1
Cory Gathercole 1*,1*,3,2*,0 = 7+3
Glen Phillips 2,3,2,1 = 8
Paul Fry – Rider Replacement
Krzysztof Stojanowski 3,1,3,2,3,2 = 14
Andrew Bargh ® 0,0,N,1,0,1*,0,1 = 3+1
James Holder ® 3,R,R,1,N = 4

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A WEEKEND TO FORGET...

Despite Paul Fry having to pull out of the trip having failed to regain fitness sufficiently for him to get back into the saddle, the team headed North on Saturday confident of returning South having secured victories at both Berwick (Saturday) and Newcastle (Sunday). As things transpired they failed to win at either venue going down 46-44 at Berwick and having Sunday's match in Geordieland rained off!
"Not a weekend to remember for sure!" commented team manager David Croucher, "This time last week I was looking forward to travelling to securing two away wins north with our full squad and picking up two away wins but firstly Paul had to pull out, we lost at Berwick with James clearly not at his best as he was in obvious discomfort and then, to cap it all, the match at Newcastle got rained off and we ended up with nothing to show for our efforts but that's the way things go sometimes.
"We'll just have to try to do better at Edinburgh on Friday and the following night at Workington in the K.O.Cup."




INJURIES UPDATE....

The Wightlink Islanders now have injury concerns over two riders, Paul Fry and James Holder, and it appears certain that neither will be available for this weekend's matches at Edinburgh in the league and Workington in the cup.
Fry has still not fully recovered from the leg injury he received in a crash at Berwick a few weeks back and was scheduled to have another appointment with specialists at his local hospital today (Tuesday) and he and the Wightlink Islanders management are both hoping that they will now have a clearer indication of how much longer he'll be sidelined for after that.
And he seems set to be joined on those sidelines by young Aussie James Holder who has been riding through the pain barrier since breaking a bone in his hand in a crash during the home KO Cup win over Sheffield three weeks ago, cutting off the plaster his local hospital had encased his hand so that he could travel north with the team last Friday!
But that gamble didn't really work out with James clearly below his best at Berwick and he like the Fryer, is due for another hospital appointment this week, tomorrow (Wednesday) in his case, and the expectations now are that he will undergo an operation to insert a plate in his injured hand.
"We're not sure at this stage how long that will mean he's on the sidelines," said a club spokesman earlier today, "but knowing James it won't be long!


NEXT TUESDAY AT SMALLBROOK...

Next Tuesday's visitors to the island will be Birmingham, another club with injury woes at present having witnessed skipper Phil Morris and youngster Adam Roynon taken to hospital after a crash in the opening heat of their away match at Hertfordshire club Rye House on Saturday.
Morris broke a shoulder whilst Roynon sustained a broken right leg and, of course, neither will ride in next Tuesday's match at Smallbrook and all of us Wightlink Islanders fans will be keeping our fingers (and everything else!) crossed that we don't pick up any further injuries in our two away matches this coming weekend.