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BERWICK Chairman John Anderson has announced the club has been put up for sale after eight years in charge.Anderson and fellow directors son Ryan and George Hepburn are looking for someone new to take the Bandits into their 50th season in 2017.Anderson said: “Since becoming involved as promoter here in 2009, I have watched with pride as the track surface and lighting were improved beyond recognition, our foam-fence, the best and safest in the Premier League, was installed and we introduced track covers, first in 2012 and improved upon this season. “Under this promotion we have gained full FIM approval for our stadium and presentation standards, staged four televised meetings live on Sky Sports, three FIM World Championship events, two British Championships and the 2013 BenFund Bonanza. “However the strain of running the organisation has sapped our collective enthusiasm and stamina to the point where we recognise we have, personally, gone as far as we can. “The time has come for others, perhaps younger and with fresh ideas for the onward progress and promotion of speedway in Berwick-upon-Tweed, to take over, buy us out and take up the challenge of running the club and delivering an entertaining weekly speedway show at Shielfield Park.”
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SOMERSET boss Garry May hopes to clinch top place in the Premier League table on their Northern tour this weekend.The Rebels’ trip to Workington on Saturday was rained off and they now follow up with visits to Newcastle on Sunday and Berwick on Monday.May said: “Even though we have achieved our main aim of securing a top-two place in the Premier League table, there will be no let up as far as trying to pick up more league points are concerned.“We need one further league point in order to guarantee that we will finish the regular league season at the top of the table before we head into the Championship-deciding play-offs.“We are, no doubt, in for a tough weekend, but it is one that I feel we can come away with some more league points and, in doing so, cement our place at the top of the table.”Sheffield will look to give their own play-off hopes a boost as they visit second-placed Glasgow.The Tigers currently sit fifth in the table after a 56-37 win over Rye House at Owlerton on Thursday, and skipper Simon Stead believes they are capable of claiming a positive result at Ashfield.He said: “We know that’s probably going to be one of the toughest tests we face all year, but we’ll be going there looking for a result.“We need to carry on picking up the points to really strengthen our play-off spot and keep our confidence up.“I’m not saying I think we’ll definitely go there and win, but it’s certainly not beyond our capabilities to do it.”Meanwhile Scunthorpe can climb off the bottom of the table with a win over Redcar at the Eddie Wright Raceway.A victory of any margin would lift Scunthorpe ahead of Rye House, while a win of seven points or more would also lift them above Redcar.Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We’ve scored two terrific home victories over Workington and Newcastle in the last couple of weeks, but we certainly won’t under-estimate Redcar, who have a number of riders who can go well around the Eddie Wright Raceway.“But if we ride to our capabilities, there’s no reason why we can’t take another three league points from the meeting. I think it’s going to be another cracker.”
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BUXTON boss Jason Pipe believes he can get the better of former club chief Jack Lee when the Hitmen face King’s Lynn in the National League on Sunday.Pipe’s side are chasing an elusive first home win of the season, and come up against their long-time ex-boss Lee, who is standing in for Dale Allitt for the Young Stars.Skipper Ryan Blacklock misses out for the home side with a shoulder injury, with ex-Buxton rider Tom Woolley coming in to guest, whilst both sides will operate rider-replacement with their No.1 riders absent.Pipe said: “No disrespect to Jack, but I believe in Dale's absence I will be able to pick up on one or two things during the meeting that Jack may oversee and we'll have to be ready to capitalise! “Jack is one of the nicest blokes in Speedway and I'm looking forward to welcoming him back to Buxton on Sunday and spending the afternoon battling it out with him and having some banter!“Can we finally see our first home win of the season? I believe we can do it. However, it's all about what happens on the day and how much fight the lads have in them to pull this off.”Elsewhere, Mildenhall can move into the top four with a home win over Eastbourne at West Row.The Eagles go into the meeting in third place after their clash with Coventry at Arlington on Saturday was rained off.
(FIXTURES)
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5: ELITE LEAGUE: Wolverhampton v Poole 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Somerset 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Cradley 6.30
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6:TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Stoke 7.30, Isle of Wight v King’s Lynn 7pm
