Berwick Bandits captain Leon Flint hopes victory will be springboard for season

The 20-year-old top scored with 12 points on Saturday including a sensational ride to keep Great Britain international Charles Wright behind him in heat 15.

That second place was enough to give Berwick a slender 46-44 victory over a side which had won on its previous five visits to Shielfield.

And it was all achieved without Thomas Jorgensen who has broken vertebrae in his neck and back following a crash in their 41-49 loss at Edinburgh the previous night.

Flint dedicated the victory to the popular Dane, who was due to be fitted with a special brace to aid his recovery this week, after leading his side to a dramatic victory.

Guests Richie Worrall and Justin Sedgmen helped Berwick open up an early 12-point lead with winning rides from Jonas Knudsen, Connor Coles along with spectacular support from the rejuvenated Jye Etheridge putting them in a winning position.

But two 5-1 from the Wright/Danny King partnership narrowed the gap and, despite a 4-2 from Flint and Coles in the penultimate heat, Redcar went into heat 15 knowing a 5-1 would earn them a draw and send the match into a Superheat.

Instead, Flint shot from the gate and, despite being passed by King, had enough in the tank to deny Wright and bring the home support to their feet.

It was in stark contrast to the previous night when Berwick, without Knudsen whose flight from Europe to Edinburgh was delayed until after the start time, lost to their fellow play-off candidates.

Steve Boxall, who was due to make his debut for the NDL Bullets later in the evening, was drafted into service and scored a fine five points in his first professional meeting since 2017.

Guests Richie Worrall, 13, and James Pearson, eight, kept them in the hunt but Edinburgh’s top three of Josh Pickering, Kye Thomson and Craig Cook scored 39 points between them.

After Saturday’s heroics Flint, who continues to score well despite being troubled by a shoulder injury sustained last year, said: “I was proud of the way the boys got their heads down against a very good side.

“We knew Redcar would come hard in the closing stages and it was a case of gritting our teeth and doing the hard yards.

“In the last heat I knew that Charles was not too far behind me but there was no way I was going to give up that second place. On the night all seven Bandits had worked far too hard not to bring it home.

“After going close but coming up short too many times so far this needs to be the springboard to get our season up and running.”

Berwick travel to Scunthorpe on Friday night before welcoming 2021 and 2022 double winners Poole to Shielfield on Saturday night.

The Pirates have already lifted the early-season BSN Series trophy after a thumping victory over Glasgow, but they have not won on either of their previous visits to Shielfield.

Flint added: “They are a good side but certainly not unbeatable. It will take another big effort from the Bandits but that is what we have to do in all our remaining fixtures if we are to reach the play-offs.”