"HARD ONE TO TAKE" FOR BANDITS
06 Aug 2026 | 14:06
BERWICK captain Jye Etheridge admitted it was a “hard one to take” with the narrow defeat at Workington.
The Bandits let it slip in the latter stages to go down by 48-42 in the Cab Direct Championship in Cumbria on Sunday afternoon.
The clash was delayed for an hour after a nasty crash between Nick Morris and Tate Zischke, which saw the latter taken to hospital.
Along with the narrow away loss at Redcar on Friday night, the latest defeat leaves Berwick’s play-off hopes hanging by a thread.
Etheridge, who scored an outstanding 15 points at Workington, said: “We were in front and then so close for the whole meeting, so losing is a hard one to take.
“It was a similar situation at Redcar on Friday we were in the lead and lost out. It’s frustrating for us.
“We will keep pushing on and fight until the end but it’s tough to lose out when you’ve been in front.”
Team boss Stewart Dickson was equally as gutted with the defeat.
He added: “We could have easily won at Redcar, at home to Workington and then won here at Workington.
“But instead we’ve only picked up three points. We’ve got four meetings to go and we are four points off fourth in the table.
“It’s a big ask now and we’ll probably need to win our remaining four fixtures to stand a chance. That’s still possible but we now have to be perfect.”
That bid for four wins on the bounce starts with the visit of defending champions Poole to Shielfield Park on Saturday night.
There is sure to be an extra edge in this tie after the Bandits eliminated Poole from the KO Cup earlier in the campaign.
Dickson added: “Our home form has been excellent. That will be given its sternest test on Saturday night. Poole will want revenge and they are a very good side.
“They were depleted the last time here and it will be a very different attitude from them.
“It’s a tough run-in for us with Edinburgh home and away and Redcar at Shielfield. They are all winnable. But we’ll have to be at our best, that’s for sure.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
