BERWICK BANDITS’ boss has been questioning the sanity of his captain Lee Complin this week after a horrific crash at Shielfield Park on Saturday night, writes Lawrence Heppell.
“He’s got two dislocated fingers, cracked ribs, a sore back and nae brain!” said Berwick manager Ian Rae. “But he’s rebuilt his bike and will be racing tonight! He’s crazy!”
Complin crashed heavily into the new safety fence at Shielfield Park while chasing unpredictable Danish rider Michael Palm Toft last Saturday night – but was able to bounce back on a spare bike to take three more races and claim seven more points, leading his team to another home win.
Now the gritty Yorkshire tyke will be shrugging off his aches and pains to lead his troops again for two matches against Sheffield Tigers this week – at their Owlerton Stadium on Thursday, and at Berwick on Saturday night.
“Everyone must have feared the worst when Lee crashed on Saturday,” admitted club director George Hepburn.
“But we invested heavily to install the new polyfoam safety barrier at Shielfield Park this year, and on Saturday night it proved to be worth every penny.
Another Bandit anxious to get to grips with Sheffield will be high-scoring Ricky Ashworth, who has made such an impact on Borders speedway fans since his arrival on the Berwick scene last month.
Rae’s men will line up without French favourite David Bellego on Saturday night, as the youngster has to ride in a Speedway World Cup qualifier at Herxheim in Germany, but otherwise names his usual suspects for Saturday night’s home fixture against the Yorkshire racers.
The A&J Scott Bandits have certainly been going this season, having won every home match but the club’s bosses are wary of Sheffield’s much-changed squad.
“This could be a tough one,” commented Anderson. “Sheffield all changed, but they’ve put together a good side – there’s an Australian lad called Hugh Skidmore who can shift a bit and we’ll need to be on top of our game to keep up the unbeaten home run and collect all the match points.”