Fairy tale first win for Hans Andersen not enough for Berwick Bandits against Poole Pirates

It was a hard-earned against a battling Bandits side which was finally silenced by three successive 5-1s between heats 11 and 13.

Rory Schlein returned from injury to lead the home challenge while there was a combative debut from Hans Andersen, and young skipper Leon Flint continued to rattle up the points at Shielfield Park.

But they were unable to tame a Pirates side which once again has its sights set on the end of season silverware, with two of their lesser lights setting up the win.

Zach Cook may be the less talked about of the two Australian brothers, but he is definitely the most effective around Shielfield, while Lee Complin continues to be the guest rider of choice at his former home having already enjoyed victories filling in for Edinburgh and Workington while also tasting success with his own sides Glasgow and Mildenhall this year.

The teams traded early 5-1s, Jye Etheridge winning heat three and Flint getting past Zach Cook right on the line after an epic four-lap battle.

After Andersen marked his home debut by cutting inside Worrall to win his first race in Berwick colours, the engine room partnership struck again, Flint outfighting Richard Lawson with Etheridge keeping Kyle Newman at bay to give the Bandits the slenderest of leads.

The match swung conclusively the visitors’ way in heat eight with Newman and Complin well ahead when Connor Coles’ primary chain snapped, Knudsen showing lightening reflexes to lay down his bike. Even so, Coles’ helmet was wrecked in the crash.

Flint and Etheridge maintained the six-point deficit with a shared heat in nine, allowing team manager Kev Little to play his tactical card.

Andersen made a high-speed hash of the first bend in 11 but the chaos caused by the Dane’s tight entry to the bend and drift towards the fence opened a gap which Schlein drove through, the Dane recovering to relegate the Cook brothers to the minor point, reducing the deficit to two.

Poole’s response was brutal, Lawson and Newman blocking out Andersen, Ben Cook and Rowe leaving Etheridge and Boxall in their wake and then Worrall holding off a four-lap onslaught from Schlein and being allowed to take the flag by team-mate Lawson.

Despite the match being beyond their reach the Bandits ended strongly.

Flint was the star of heat 14, holding off Zach Cook, with Boxall, despite losing his fuel cap during the race, making it a 4-2.

He then watched from third place as Schlein and Lawson ended the night with another monumental battle, the Australian winning by half a bike’s length.

It capped an impressive return from injury for the winter signing as he topped the score charts, a point ahead of his young skipper.

Team manager Little said: “We battled away against a very good Poole side but those three 5-1s were impossible to claw back.

“It’s now a case of concentrating on Plymouth this Tuesday night. You couldn’t get two more contrasting circuits, but the boys are determined to do the business in Devon.”