NEWCASTLE Diamonds edged out Berwick bandits 47-43 after a final heat thriller.
Locked at 42-each going in to the deciding race Diamonds sent out Mark Lemon and Claws Nedermark against Bandits duo Lee Complin and Linus Eklof.
The move paid off as Lemon blasted out of the gate to lead with Nedermark tucking in behind him. The decisive moment came when Eklof, in trying to retrieve the situation for the Bandits bounced off the third bend fence leaving the Diamonds duo to seal victory.
A delighted Diamonds boss George English said: “We all thought we were a gonna tonight, and we really were not sure where the fire power was going to come from to do the job, but Mark Lemon was not a happy guy after his last place and he managed to fire the side up to a magnificent local victory. Great stuff indeed.”
Earlier, with a four point lead after heat one, the Worrall brothers lined up in the second and initially with Richie out in front but Stevie went violently wide on the last bend of the race and lost his ground allowing Jade Mudgway through to share the race 3-3.
With heats three and four were shared while the fifth Stuart Robson shot from last to second and with Sebastian Alden out in front, was able to share the race, 3-3. With another 3-3 in Heat Six, Stevie Worrall had stunned the crowd by shooting out to lead well but drifted wide on the third bend causing Linus Eklof to balk and fall with the race being stopped and the guest Diamond being excluded from the re-run which Nedermark won for Berwick.
A big win for Eklof in the Ninth race kept the match tied. In heat 10, Josef Franc stunned Lemon and Derek Sneddon to bag a 5-1 to put Berwick ahead 32-28.
Heat 11 was shared and with a 2-4 to Eklof and Davey in heat 12 Berwick opened up a six point gap.
But following an amazing gate for Lemon and Nedermark, the home side hammered home a brilliant 5-1 over Complin and Alden to tighten the match to only two points.
But Franc bagged a 4-2 for Berwick to tie the match which was won at the last by Newcastle.
A dejected Berwick boss Ian Rae paid credit to the Diamonds saying: “We had this match in our control, but all credit to the Diamonds who, when it mattered showed us how to race with increased determination even though we deserved to get a league point out of this at least.”
LAST NIGHT’S SCORERS
NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS: Mark Lemon 10+1, Derek Sneddon (Captain) 8+2, Kyle Newman – Rider Replacement, Stuart Robson 10, Claes Nedermark 10+1, Stevie Worrall (Guest) 1+1, Richie Worrall 8+4
BERWICK BANDITS: Sebastian Alden 7, Ludvig Lindgren – Rider Replacement, Linus Eklof 12+2, Josef Franc 9+1, Lee Complin (Captain) 11, Mitch Davey 3, Jade Mudgway 1+1
