Scorpions go down at Armadale

EDINBURGH MONARCHS 56 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 34 (CHAMPIONSHIP)

PATCHED-UP Attis Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions fell away in the second half of the meeting at Edinburgh’s Armadale Stadium last night (Friday), with Edinburgh Monarchs eventually winning by 56-34.

Scorpions were without the injured trio of Tero Aarnio, Jake Allen and Jordan Palin, although new signing James Wright made his debut in place of Aarnio, while ex-Scorpion Theo Pijper guested for Allen.

There was rain right up to start-time and still light rain in the first few races, which made the tight Armadale track somewhat tricky early on. Scorpions conceded a 5-1 in the opening race, with both Simon Lambert and Ryan Douglas looking ill at ease with conditions.

Zaine Kennedy and Connor Coles pulled back a 4-2 in Heat 2, but Monarchs led 16-8 after four races.

Douglas then won twice in three races, including beating Josh Pickering in Heat 7 when stand-in manager Rob Godfrey placed Douglas into the race as a tactical substitute.

That was followed a 5-1 from Lambert and Kennedy in Heat 8, which reduced the deficit to just six points.

But that was the closest that Scorpions came to the home side, who took six heat advantages in the last seven races.

Douglas could not stop Sam Masters from completing a 15-point maximum, but he did come out 3-1 in his battle against fellow Australian Pickering, including a fine battle in Heat 13, which saw Douglas roar around Pickering around a lap and then fend him off.

Team manager Rob Godfrey said: “It was always going to be tough to come here with three riders injured, although James Wright has come to help us plug the gap.

“We did have a plan for this weekend, and if would have been nice to have scored a point in this meeting. But we didn’t have enough back-up for Ryan Douglas.

“But by far the most important meeting for us this weekend is the one at home to Edinburgh on Sunday. We’ve got a good guest coming in the shape of Kasper Andersen, who enjoys riding the Scunthorpe track, and will use rider replacement higher up the order for that one, so that Ryan can take a rider replacement ride.

“We’ll be out all to win against the Monarchs at the Eddie Wright Raceway and beat them at our place, just as they beat us at their place.”

EDINBURGH 56: Sam Masters 15, Josh Pickering 10, Kye Thomson 9+2, Lasse Fredriksen 7+3, Paco Castagna 7, Jacob Hook 4+1, James Sarjeant 4.
SCUNTHORPE 34: Ryan Douglas 12, Simon Lambert 6+1, Zaine Kennedy 5+1, James Wright 5, Theo Pijper 5, Connor Coles 1, Jordan Palin r/r.

* THERE is a 44-race feast of action at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday, with 15 heats of Attis Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions against Edinburgh Monarchs followed by a planned 29 races in the British Youth Championship. The action starts at 5pm. Scorpions will use Kasper Andersen as a guest for Jordan Palin, while rider replacement will operate for Jake Allen.