Sterling effort by Scorpions in Scotland
GLASGOW TIGERS 38 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 28 (abandoned after 11 races – result to stand) (Cab Direct Championship)
ATTIS INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions saw their four-match unbeaten run ended at Glasgow’s Peugeot Ashfield Stadium last night (Friday) in a meeting that was curtailed four races early due to heavy rain, as Glasgow Tigers won by 38-28.
Already using rider replacement for the injured Michael Palm Toft, Scorpions were reduced to five riders, after Connor Mountain crashed out of the meeting. Mountain fell on the first bend of Heat 2. He took one further ride in Heat 4, but then withdrew from the meeting with a knee injury.
The good news is that Mountain is expected to be fit for the home meeting against Oxford at the Eddie Wright Raceway next Friday (June 30).
Drew Kemp defeated Glasgow No 1 Chris Harris in Heat 1. But Glasgow moved 17-7 ahead after four races, after successive 5-1s in Heats 2 and 3, while Jake Allen avoided another Glasgow 5-1 by passing Ace Pijper in Heat 4.
Scorpions started to stem the tide with a 4-2 from Ryan Douglas and Kemp in Heat 5, while Douglas was placed into Heat 7 as a tactical substitute, but Benjamin Basso won the race.
Kemp and Nathan Ablitt took a 4-2 in Heat 8, before the rain started to get harder. Both Allen and Simon Lambert showing their fighting qualities in the next two races, each battling into second place, to restrict Tigers to a 4-2 on each occasion.
Douglas and Kemp collected a 4-2 in Heat 11, but then rain increased in intensity as the riders came up to the tapes in Heat 12, and the decision was made to abandon the meeting. The result will stand – since the meeting reached the conclusion of Heat 10.
Speaking post-meeting, Scorpions’ team manager Dave Peet said: “Connor Mountain has a sore knee and it’s badly bruised. When he sat down, he was struggling to stand up again. He should be okay, there was just no way he could continue tonight.
“I don’t have any problems with our performance tonight. We started one rider down, then lost another, but the boys all put a shift in and did their best.
“Nathan Ablitt was very unlucky to be excluded from Heat 9 – I thought that was all four back all day long. He was in the thick of the action for the whole meeting.
“There was a bit of drizzle in the air for the start of the meeting, then it started to get heavier with three races to go. The riders came out for Heat 12, but at that moment, it was like someone had turned a tap on – it was four times heavier than before. The call off was then the only sensible decision.
“To be honest, it probably did us a favour. I’d already used up the tactical substitute and we were starting to run out of riders. Had the last four races been held, there’s every chance that Glasgow would have pulled further ahead.
“As it is, we’re left with a ten-point-deficit in terms of the aggregate bonus point, and I believe we can beat Glasgow by more than 10 points when we meet them at the Eddie Wright Raceway in August.”
GLASGOW 38: Chris Harris 8, Benjamin Basso 8, Claus Vissing 6, Marcin Nowak 5+1, Tom Brennan 5+1, Ace Pijper 4, Lee Complin 2+1
SCUNTHORPE 28: Ryan Douglas 8, Drew Kemp 8, Jake Allen 6, Simon Lambert 4+1, Nathan Ablitt 2, Connor Mountain 0, Michael Palm Toft r/r
Abandoned after 11 heats due to rain – Result STANDS
* ATTIS INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions are back in action at the Eddie Wright Raceway next Friday (June 30, 7.30pm) when the club host table-topping Oxford Cheetahs in the Cab Direct Championship.
