BERWICK were the surprise winners of the Premier League Fours in a thoroughly entertaining event at the Showground on Sunday.
The Bandits deservedly saw off the more fancied opposition, with former Panthers squad members Ricky Ashworth and Lee Complin being part of their team, as they delighted a large travelling support.
The Showground circuit also came up trumps, despite the awful weather of recent days, with the hard work of the track staff being rewarded with some thrilling racing.
With much-fancied Somerset missing out in the semi-finals, the Final turned into a scrap between Berwick and Leicester, with Workington and Plymouth left to fight for third place.
Complin suffered a heavy crash in Heat 3 of the Final, incurring damage to his hand, but Ashworth was in sparkling form and put the Bandits close to victory with a win in Heat 10 to give them a four-point lead.
Leicester hit back in the penultimate race, though, as David Bellego ran a last for Berwick and Kauko Nieminen charged inside Ryan Fisher off the last bend for second place.
That left the gap at two points with one heat to go, and the last race provided a fitting climax as Berwick’s Sebastian Alden superbly made it around the outside of Leicester’s Magnus Karlsson to seal victory and complete a personal maximum of nine-points.
Berwick manager Ian Rae said: “These lads wanted success for our fans especially after two awful league performances and they worked like Trojans to a man to give our club a National trophy to shout long, loud and proud about. Berwick are 2012 Four Team Champions and well deserved too. I’m a very proud man this evening!”
FINAL RESULT: Berwick 23, Leicester 20, Workington 16, Plymouth 13.