Barker stars again as Gladiators keen their super home form going

CORNISHMEN Ben Barker and Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris were the stars of the show as the Plymouth Gladiators took on the Berwick Bandits, where a hard-fought 49-41 win for the home side saw them climb to third place in the Championship standings.

- STUART JAMES

PLYMOUTH GLADIATORS..........49

BERWICK BANDITS......................41

Barker looked a different class as he reeled off four straight wins, while Harris enjoyed three wins and two-second places on his return to the Coliseum with the Bandits.

Guest Erik Riss scored 11+1 as the Gladiators again benefitted from the Guest facility, while Hans Andersen hit double figures with a ten-point return from four rides.

It was yet another good win for the Gladiators as their push for an end f season play-off place remains on track. But speaking of tracks, the real heroes were promoter Mark Phillips and the track team, who managed to get the meeting on despite heavy rain falling in Plymouth for a couple of hours before the event.

Thankfully, the sun came out at about 5 pm and dried the track out sufficiently to get the meeting won and when tapes went up, Plymouth wasted no time in getting points on the board with an opening 4-2 in the first heat with Riss taking the flag and Alfie Bowtell in third.

The next three heats were all drawn – Plymouth winning them all through Ben Morley, who was again impressive in reserve, Barker, and Andersen before Barker and Michael Palm Toft recorded another 4-2 in heat five to give the Gladiators a four-point advantage.