BERWICK are hoping that home comforts can get their faltering season back on track.
Tonight's Tweed-Tees derby against Redcar Bears in front of the BSN cameras is their first meeting at Shielfield Park for five weeks, an encounter which history suggests will go right down to the wire.
Six points is the biggest winning margin in the previous five Cab Direct Championship encounters between the teams at the high speed Borders’ racetrack – the Bears holding a 3-2 lead in the mini-series but Berwick have won the past two clashes in addition to their KO Cup quarter final first leg clash in May.
Berwick's last outing on home shale was a two-point victory over Poole on May 17 – the Pirates’ only league setback in 2025; failure to progress in the cup and BSN Series, a rain-off against Scunthorpe and the British GP weekend in Manchester combining to leave Shielfield Park silent since.
Heavy defeats at Scunthorpe and the reverse fixture against the Pirates exposed a lack of middle and lower bite on the road, in stark contrast to their contributions in the home wins over Edinburgh, Redcar and Poole.
Drew Kemp, Sam Hagon – riding at Berwick for the first time since retaining his British under-21 title - Danyon Hume and reserves Jack Smith and Dayle Wood have saved their best performances for home shale.
It’s a similar story for Redcar whose much-lauded big four spearhead has orchestrated five comfortable home wins – last night’s 50-40 victory over form team Edinburgh the latest.
But the Bears have lost at Scunthorpe, Berwick and Poole, their lone road victory coming at Workington in the BSN Series.
However, they have riders who consider Shielfield Park to be a home-from-home. Charles Wright, Danny King, twice, and Erik Riss all have maximums and 150 points under their belts around Shielfield; King averaging more than 12 points a meeting there over his long career. Even Scunthorpe’s Simon Lambert, guesting for the injured Jason Edwards, averages a fraction under nine on previous visits.
While Craig Cook’s performed strongly in the two Berwick away defeats, support was limited with the exception of Kildemand, who misses the meeting with a knee injury picked up racing in Germany - in-form Glasgow and Leicester racer Kyle Howarth guesting.
Berwick team manager Stewart Dickson has labelled the derby as a “must-win” for his side while opposite number Gavin Parr admits that with so many track specialists in his side they are also targeting a win.
Riss was missing – riding as a wildcard in the German GP – when Berwick won the KO Cup tie, a night when King also failed to score double figures for the only time in 12 visits to Berwick.
Ace Pijper also missed the trip due to an injury picked up the previous night, his stand-in Jody Scott impressing enough that Redcar offered him a full-time team spot two weeks later, axing Tom Spencer.
Berwick: Craig Cook, Sam Hagon, Danyon Hume, Drew Kemp, Kyle Howarth, Dayle Wood, Jack Smith.
Redcar: Charles Wright, Jake Mulford, Simon Lambert, Danny King, Erik Riss, Jody Scott, Ace Pijper.
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Words by George Dodds.
Images by Taylor Lanning