SCORPIONS GIVE LEADERS A FRIGHT

POOLE PIRATES 52 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 38 (Cab Direct Championship)

ELLIE ROSE TRAVEL Scunthorpe Scorpions put up a fight at unbeaten league leaders Poole Pirates, before slipping to a 38-52 defeat in a Cab Direct Championship encounter on the South Coast last night (Wednesday).

Second-placed Scorpions were only 34-38 adrift after 12 races, but Pirates ended up two 5-1s and a 4-2 in the final three races.

It was a much improved performance by Scorpions, compared to the 29 points they collected in the Cab Direct Knockout Cup semi-finals a couple of weeks ago.

Scunthorpe promoter and stand-in team manager Rob Godfrey said: “We kept ourselves in it right until the end. We had a strong reserve in Nathan Ablitt, so I moved about where I used him.

“The tactical substitute also paid off. Our usual team manager David Howe was watching the BSN coverage from home and he told me there was no contact when Tom Brennan fell off and the referee made the right decision. Kyle Howarth and Simon Lambert took the 5-1 from the re-run and that allowed us to close the gap back to four points, as it was with just three races remaining.

“Poole have a habit of finishing strongly around here. I had set a target of 40 points for us and we just fell short of that. But with 38 points, we have left ourselves a chance of the aggregate bonus point when we have Poole back at the Eddie Wright Raceway this Friday.”

POOLE 52: Ben Cook 15, Tom Brennan 11+1, Richard Lawson 9+2, Zach Cook 7+2, Tobias Thomsen 6, Sam Hagon 3, Ben Trigger 1+1.

SCUNTHORPE 38: Kyle Howarth 11, Nathan Ablitt 10+1, Jake Allen 6+2, Simon Lambert 5+1, Connor Mountain 5+1, Luke Harrison 1+1, Michael Palm Toft 0.

* ELLIE ROSE TRAVEL Scunthorpe Scorpions host Poole Pirates in the return fixture at the Eddie Wright Raceway tomorrow (Friday, August 9) at 7.30pm, when they aim to become the first team to beat Poole across the standard 15 races in a Cab Direct Championship league fixture this season.