LEICESTER boss Stewart Dickson admitted his table topping side were beaten by the better team in a 50-40 defeat at Berwick.
It’s the first time this season the Watling JCB Lions have come away from a meeting empty handed.
Dickson said: ‘’Unfortunately, sometimes you’ve got to hold your hands up and say you were beaten by the better side on the night.
‘’Berwick were gating a lot better than us which proved to be very important as the meeting went on.
‘’It’s the first time this season we haven’t taken at least a point from any venue we’ve been at so we’re a bit disappointed but I don’t think we can have too many complaints about the result.’’
Dickson was keen to thank the travelling support and looks forward to tomorrow’s return fixture.
‘’We had a marvellous, big support again as we always do on our travels and it would’ve been nice to send them home with at least a point, hopefully we can send them home with three tomorrow,’’ he added.
A lightening start from the home side saw them pick up two 5-1 maximums either side of a Leicester 4-2 in the opening three heats.
Bandits pairing Dany Gappmaier and Kevin Doolan teamed up for a second successive maximum in Heat 5 with Watling JCB Lions skipper Scott Nicholls unable to land a significant blow despite his best efforts.
Guest Steve Worrall made it two wins out of two in Heat 6 but fellow guest Shelby Rutherford was unable to trouble the scorers with the home pairing packing the minor placings for the first shared heat of the night.
Watling JCB Lions then hit back with a maximum of their own in Heat 7 with tactical substitute Worrall joining Douglas to halve the deficit to just four points at the half way stage. However, the hosts instantly responded in the following heat with their fourth 5-1 of the evening to restore their lead to 8.
Another Berwick heat advantage followed with Gappmaier getting the better of Worrall in the battle of the unbeaten riders.
After a nasty first bend incident involving all four riders, Douglas picked himself up off the deck to pick up his second race win in a row with Josh Bates getting the better of Leon Flint for a much needed heat advantage.
Reserve Connor Mountain and Bates gave the travelling fans hope with an emphatic Heat 12 5-1 but that hope was short lived.
Just when it looked like the Watling JCB Lions were going to pick up at least a consolation away league point, the Bandits struck in Heats 13 and 15 to take the match away from the away side.
Watling JCB Lions return to SGB Championship action on Sunday afternoon (4pm) when they will be looking for revenge in the reverse fixture at the Paul Chapman and Sons Arena.
BERWICK 50: Dany Gappmaier 14+1, Aaron Summers 9+1, Nicolaj Busk Jakobsen 8+1, Jye Etheridge 7+1, Kevin Doolan 7+1, Coty Garcia 3+1, Leon Flint 2+1.
LEICESTER 40: Steve Worrall 10+1, Connor Mountain 9+1, Ryan Douglas 9, Scott Nicholls 8, Josh Bates 3+1, Shelby Rutherford (Guest) 1, Ellis Perks 0.
