SHEFFIELD picked up all three Premier League points on offer in a hard fought 51-39 win over Berwick at Owlerton.

Once again the racing was excellent and powerhouse spearhead Ricky Ashworth and Richard Hall (both 13+1) were in fine form to see the Sheffield Window Centre-backed side home.

Berwick were good value and deserve credit for the way they pushed Eric Boocock’s side with Czech Republic star Josef Franc particularly impressive.

It took eight drawn races before Sheffield finally managed to break the deadlock as Bandits battled all the way; a 5-1 from Chris Mills and Hugh Skidmore making amends for earlier blips from both riders.

That opened up a 26-22 scoreline and when Richard Hall and Joel Parsons, who had suffered whiplash injuries to his ankle after a chain snapped in his previous ride, banged in another 5-1 in heat 9 the visitors were on the ropes.

But when Bandit Josef Franc inflicted the only defeat of the night on home skipper Ashworth in the tenth, Paul Clews' extra point after rounding Skidmore narrowed the gap to 33-27.

But Sheffield finished strongly as successive 4-2s were followed by their third 5-1 of the night in the finale as Hall and Ashworth capped a good night's work to relegate feisty visitor Franc into third place and make sure of the bonus point for winning by seven points or more.

TIGERS: R. Ashworth 13+1, R. Hall 13+1, P. Cooper 7+1, J. Parsons 6+1, J. Auty 6+1, C. Mills 4+1, H. Skidmore 2+1.
BERWICK: J. Franc 12, M. Makovsky 7+2, S. Burza 6, T. Aarnio 5, G. Blair 4+1, P. Clews 4, G. Franchetti 1+1.