Report: Edinburgh 52 Scunthorpe 38
SCORPIONS OUT OF LUCK NORTH OF THE BORDER
EDINBURGH MONARCHS 52 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 38 (CHAMPIONSHIP)
ATTIS INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions were unfortunate to come away from Edinburgh’s Armadale stadium last night (Friday) without any points to show from their efforts, eventually suffering a 38-52 defeat, despite being right in contention with just three races to go.
Thomas Jorgensen came off awkwardly after Richie Worrall locked up directly in front of him in Heat 4. To add insult to injury, the Dane was excluded from the re-run. He took one more ride, a second place in Heat 6, before withdrawing from the meeting with a shoulder injury.
Another rider to pick up a knock was Connor Coles, brought in at No 7 to guest for Jordan Palin, who was en route to the Czech Republic for a European Under-19 commitment. All four riders fell on the opening bends of Heat 2 and Coles continued in the meeting with a hand injury.
Rain in the early stages made the tight Armadale track tricky to ride and no fewer than five Scorpions tasted the shale at one point or another during proceedings.
Nevertheless, the visitors stayed in contention and briefly looked like they may take the lead in Heat 8, when Josh MacDonald and Simon Lambert showed first from the tapes, only for MacDonald to lift coming out of the second bend and bring both Scorpions crashing down. Skipper Lambert picked himself up to win the re-run.
Scorpions were still only four points down with three races remaining, but the home pairing of Worrall and Sam Masters proved unstoppable in Heats 13 and 15.
Theo Pijper, a track expert at Armadale, was Scorpions’ top rider with 11+1, despite an exclusion for tape touching in Heat 15. The Dutchman was involved in a couple of fine tussles with Josh Pickering (in Heat 9 and Heat 14), with each rider winning one of these two clashes.
Scunthorpe’s new No 1 Adam Ellis experienced a mixed evening. He won his first race in Scorpions’ colours with a comfortable win over Pickering in Heat 5. But he ended his evening with a fall in Heat 14, when brought into the race as a tactical substitute.
Speaking post-meeting, Scorpions’ team manager Dave Peet said: “I thought we rode much better than the final scoreline suggests and we were right in it until the final three races. The rain did make the track tricky, although it was the same for both teams. The dirt-line then moved out very wide, which suited Edinburgh’s riders more than ours.
“Thomas Jorgensen has suffered muscle damage to his shoulder. He’s going to take some pain killers and then just see how it feels from day-to-day.
“My thanks to Connor Coles, our guest rider. He’s got a massive bump on his hand and it might even be broken. But he refused to take off his glove and rode through the pair barrier for us, so he showed real commitment.
“Things didn’t go our way tonight. We will regroup for Sunday when Edinburgh come back to our place. We need to ensure that we win that meeting.”
EDINBURGH 52: Richie Worrall 14, Sam Masters 13+2, Josh Pickering 10, Kye Thomson 5+2, William Lawson 5+2, Nathan Greaves 4, Joe Lawlor 1.
SCUNTHORPE 38: Theo Pijper 11+1, Adam Ellis 7+1, Josh MacDonald 6+1, Tero Aarnio 5+1, Simon Lambert 5, Connor Coles 2, Thomas Jorgensen 2.
* ATTIS INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions entertain Edinburgh Monarchs in the return fixture at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday (3pm), on a packed afternoon also containing 15 races in the 500cc and 250cc classes of the British Youth Championship. Tickets are on sale on the club website: http://scunthorpe-speedway.com/ticketoffice
PHOTO: Theo Pijper top scored for Scorpions at Edinburgh (pic: IAN RISPIN).
