Battling Scorpions miss out in final stages at Redcar

BATTLING SCORPIONS MISS OUT IN FINAL STAGES AT REDCAR
REDCAR BEARS 48 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 42 (Cab Direct Championship)

ATTIS INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions took the aggregate bonus point, but just missed out on victory on the night at Redcar last night (Friday), with the Redcar Bears eventually winning by 48-42 in the Cab Direct Championship.

Scorpions flew into an early 9-3 lead and again led by 40-38 after 13 races, after Ryan Douglas and Jake Allen took a 5-1 in Heat 13. Douglas flew from the gate, while Allen blasted around the outside on the second bend to join his fellow Australian up front, and then they fought the attentions of Redcar top man Charles Wright.

Bears hit back with a 5-1 of their own in Heat 14, and Scorpions needed a 5-1 in Heat 15 to snatch victory or a 4-2 to force an extra Superheat to determine the winners.

Out of the start, Scorpions had a 4-2. But Wright passed Allen for third place, and then Douglas lost first place with a puncture on the third lap, as Bears concluded with a 5-1.

While those races were ultimately decisive, Scorpions could point to first bend incidents in Heats 7 and 8 as going a long way to costing them victory. The first of those saw a nasty tumble for skipper Simon Lambert. He continued in the meeting, despite feeling very second hand for the rest of the evening. The second saw Kemp brought down on the opening turn and suffer major damage to one of his bikes.

Connor Mountain enjoyed a terrific meeting for Scorpions, scoring 14+1 from seven rides from reserve, while Allen (11+2) and Douglas (11) also enjoyed good nights.

A 4-2 from Douglas and Kemp in Heat 1 followed by a 4-2 from Mountain and Nathan Ablitt in Heat 2 got Scorpions off to a terrific start. And even when Bears moved 29-25 ahead after nine races, Scorpions still fought back, with back-to-back wins from Allen in Heats 9 and 10 a key factor.

With Scorpions 55-35 ahead from the leg at the Eddie Wright Raceway, the aggregate bonus point was never in any doubt, and it bodes well for Scorpions when the two clubs will meet in the KO Cup semi-finals later in the season.

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “Our main objective from tonight was the aggregate bonus point and we picked that up.

“Of course, there was a slight disappointment that we didn’t win the meeting, after we were leading after 13 races. But we can’t complain because the lads gave it everything.

“Simon was bumped about after his heavy fall. He could have easily withdrawn from the meeting, but he wanted to continue. Meanwhile, Drew completely totalled another bike when he was brought down in a first bend incident.

“To have a couple of things go against us like that and still push Redcar all the way showed a lot of spirit. The lads liked how the track was tonight, but there was a big advantage for gates 2 and 4.

“When Ryan and Jake took a 5-1 in Heat 13 over Charles Wright, I thought if we could share Heat 14, then we could win it in Heat 15, even though we didn’t have the favourable gates in either race. Heat 14 swung things Redcar’s way, although even if we had shared that race, Ryan’s puncture in Heat 15 would have cost us.

“We’ll take the positives. Connor had another terrific meeting from reserve, and we pushed Redcar all the way. That’s the second time this season we’ve taken a bonus point from them, and whenever you do that, you outscore the other team over the two meetings. We’ve said all along that the collection of bonus points is crucial to play-off qualification and I feel that we have one foot in that door.

“It also again gives us even more belief that we can beat Redcar over two legs when we meet them in the semi-finals of the cup.”

REDCAR 48: Charles Wright 13, Erik Riss 11+2, Connor Bailey 8+2, Danny King 7, Jason Edwards 4+2, Danyon Hume 4+1, Luke Harrison 1.
SCUNTHORPE 42: Connor Mountain 14+1, Jake Allen 11+2, Ryan Douglas 11, Simon Lambert 2+1, Nathan Ablitt 2+1, Drew Kemp 2, Michael Palm Toft r/r.
Scunthorpe win the aggregate bonus point by 97-83.

* ATTIS INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions are back in action at the Eddie Wright Raceway next Friday (July 28, 7.30pm) when the club host Birmingham Brummies in the Cab Direct Championship.