Bandits claw their way to a win against Bears

DREW Kemp and guest Kyle Howarth were the scoring heroes, but a solid team performance saw six-man Bandits maintain their winning start to the Championship season at Shielgield Park.

- 

Without number one Craig Cook, who pulled out of the derby with Covid during the day, the Bandits dug deep to send the Bears home pointless.

The visitors were rocked by a first-ride crash which robbed them of the services of Shielfield Park expert Danny King, who suffered a wrist injury in the spectacular tumble.

On a night of uncompromising and spectacular racing, reserve Jack Smith was one of the home heroes, picking himself up from a terrifying heat-12 crash to chip in with vital points.

He may have only scored three points but they were the difference between two well-balanced sides.

Trailing by six points after just two heats - Kemp suffering bike problems in the first heat - the writing seemed to be on the wall for the short-handed hosts.

But instead of folding, the home side stepped up to the plate and slowly imposed themselves on the meeting.