Douglas blow for Scorpions

PLYMOUTH DEVILS 55 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 40 (PREMIER LEAGUE)

FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions came away from their Premier League match at Plymouth last night (Friday) without any points, after a 40-55 defeat.

The defining moment came in Heat 4, when free-scoring Australian Ryan Douglas fell and hurt his wrist. Douglas took one more ride, in Heat 6, before withdrawing from the meeting.

Recent Danish signing Nicolai Klindt had another terrific meeting for the Scorpions, scoring 15 points, including six points as a tactical ride in Heat 11 in a Scorpions’ 8-1, alongside Josh Auty. David Howe gave Klindt good support with paid 9 points from 5 rides.

Klindt defeated home No 1 Ben Barker in Heat 1 as the Scorpions’ took an opening 4-2. With Howe winning Heat 3 with Ashley Birks third, the score was 9-9 after three races.

The Devils moved ahead with a 5-1 in Heat 4 after Douglas’s fall and the Scorpions never got back on level terms again. After 8 races, the Devils led 29-19.

Reserve Thomas Jorgensen had a busy night, being handed seven outings, and finished second as a tactical ride in Heat 9, as that race finished as a 4-4.

The Scorpions fell 14 points behind after conceding a 5-1 in Heat 10, but an 8-1 from Klindt & Auty in Heat 11 brought them back into contention.

But the Scorpions conceded 5-1s in both Heats 13 & 15. In between, Birks showed character to beat Plymouth’s flying reserve Kyle Newman in Heat 14, at the track where he suffered serious injury in 2013.

Scunthorpe boss Rob Godfrey said: “Ryan (Douglas) suffered a wrist injury when he came off. Ryan took one more ride after that, but he was struggling to hold onto the bike and it was night over for him.

“I’m hopeful that the wrist is not broken, but we’ll only know for sure once he’s gone to hospital for an X-ray.

“Ryan has been such a key rider for us this season, and our plan for the night fell apart without him.

“Nicolai Klindt was really flying again. He’s trapping so well, and really quick after that.

“But overall it just wasn’t a good night at the office for us. We’ve been brought down with a bump, but we’ll come back to fight another day.”

PLYMOUTH DEVILS 55
1. Ben Barker 2 3 2* 2* 3 (12+2)
2. Sam Simota 0 2* 1 3 (6+1)
3. Kalle Katajisto 2 1* 3 1* (7+2)
4. Adam Roynon 0 2 1 1* (4+1)
5. Rasmus Jensen 3 3 1 3 2* (12+1)
6. Kyle Newman 2* 2* 3 2 2 (11+2)
7. Tim Webster (guest) 3 0 0 (3)

FLUIDAIR POWER SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 40
1. Josh Auty 1 0 2* 1 (4+1)
2. Nicolai Klindt 3 3 2 6# 1 (15)
3. David Howe 3 1* 1 3 0 (8+1)
4. Ashley Birks 1 2 0 3 (6)
5. Ryan Douglas FX 1 (1)
6. Matt Williamson 0 0 0 (0)
7. Thomas Jorgensen 1 1 0 4# 0 0 0 (6)

# = tactical ride

1: Klindt, Barker, Auty, Simota, 50.78 (2-4) (2-4).
2: Webster, Newman, Jorgensen, Williamson (fell, remounted), 51.68 (5-1) (7-5).
3: Howe, Katajisto, Birks, Roynon, 50.97 (2-4) (9-9).
4: (Re-run) Jensen, Newman, Jorgensen, Douglas (fell, excluded), 51.38 (5-1) (14-10).
5: Klindt, Roynon, Katajisto, Auty, 50.88 (3-3) (17-13).
6: Barker, Simota, Douglas, Williamson, 50.85 (5-1) (22-14).
7: Jensen, Birks, Howe, Webster, 50.97 (3-3) (25-17).
8: Newman, Klindt, Simota, Jorgensen, 50.97 (4-2) (29-19).
9: Katajisto, JORGENSEN (TR), Roynon, Williamson, 50.72 (4-4) (33-23).
10: Simota, Barker, Howe, Birks, 51.47 (5-1) (38-24).
11: KLINDT (TR), Auty, Jensen, Webster, 51.06 (1-8) (39-32).
12: Howe, Newman, Katajisto, Jorgensen, 51.34 (3-3) (42-35).
13: Jensen, Barker, Auty, Jorgensen, 51.43 (5-1) (47-36).
14: Birks, Newman, Roynon, Jorgensen, 51.34 (3-3) (50-39).
15: Barker, Jensen, Klindt, Howe, 51.31 (5-1) (55-40).