Home meeting against Redcar starts massive week for Scorpions

IT’S A MAKE-OR-BREAK WEEK for the FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, with every Premier League meeting taking on the importance of a cup final – starting with the visit of the Redcar Bears to the Eddie Wright Raceway on Wednesday evening (7.30pm).

With the Scorpions currently in a precarious sixth place in the Premier League table – the last qualifying position for the championship play-offs – the team are involved in four meetings in five days against the two teams snapping at their heels!

The Scorpions’ schedule for this week is:
Wednesday August 27th (7.30pm) – Home vs Redcar
Thursday August 28th (7.30pm) – Away vs Redcar
Saturday August 30th (8.30pm approx. – second half) – Away vs Workington
Sunday August 31st (3pm) – Home vs Workington

Somerset, Edinburgh, Ipswich and Berwick have all safely qualified for the play-offs.

Newcastle sit in fifth place with 33 points, with 26 out of 28 Premier League meetings completed.

Then come the sixth-placed Scorpions with 31 points from 18 meetings. Redcar are seventh with 28 points from 23 meetings, while Workington are ninth with only 21 points, but have a large number of meetings in hand, with 13 meetings staged and 15 to be raced before the play-off cut-off date of September 14th.

The mathematics are complicated with so many meetings still to be staged, but one thing is certain – the Scorpions can’t afford to slip up at home to the teams chasing them in the table.

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “This is the most important week of the season for us so far. In particular, the two home meetings are absolutely massive.

“We can’t afford either Redcar or Workington leaving here with a win.

“Earlier on in the season, we’d done more fixtures than anyone else, and it was up for everyone else to catch us. The boot is now on the other foot. We’ve got meetings in hand on most other teams and it’s up to us to win those – especially the home meetings.”

Redcar’s visit to the Eddie Wright Raceway on Wednesday is a clash re-arranged from Bank Holiday Monday, when it was rained off. Wednesday evening has been selected as the new date, due to the favourable forecast on that night.

The Scorpions will be without No 1 Nicolai Klindt, who is in action in Denmark.

Godfrey explains: “Our fixture on Wednesday is a re-arranged fixture, which means we have a facility to cover for Nicolai. We will be using rider replacement in his absence, with everyone able to take a ride for him.

“Nicolai injured his scaphoid in Denmark last week, but it seems he’s OK riding with it. We’ll see how he goes in Denmark on Wednesday. As long as he’s fine after that, he’ll be joining us at Redcar on Thursday.

“Rider replacement at home to Redcar should work well. Thomas Jorgensen (pictured) is now fitting fit again after the illness that struck him earlier in the month, and everyone could see how sharp Josh Auty looked in his two rides, before the Sheffield meeting was called off.

“Josh has come back from his enforced break due to appendicitis in good shape. He’s looking more relaxed and happier.

“We realise that Redcar are going to come all guns blazing at us on Wednesday, they need to beat us home and away. We won’t under-estimate them and we need our fans in good voice behind us. This is like a cup final for us. We must win this meeting”, Godfrey concluded.

Admission prices for Wednesday:

Adult: £15.00
Student/OAP: £13.00
Child (10 – 17): £5.00
Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult)
Family Ticket £35 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17)
Match Programme: £1.00

NOTE REGARDING ADMISSION PRICES FOR WEDNESDAY FOR THOSE WITH A VALID SCUNTHORPE v SHEFFIELD RE-ADMISSION TICKET:

Admission prices on Wednesday for those with a valid re-admission ticket from the abandoned Scunthorpe v Sheffield meeting from August 15th will be as follows:

Adult: £13.00 (£2 deduction)
Student/OAP: £11.00 (£2 deduction)
Child (10 – 17): £3.00 (£2 deduction)
Family Ticket £29 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-16) (£6 deduction)

Expected teams for Wednesday (English unless stated):

FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Rider replacement for Nicolai Klindt (Denmark), 2. Thomas Jørgensen (Denmark), 3. Ashley Birks, 4. Josh Auty, 5. Ryan Douglas (Australia), 6. Matt Williamson, 7. David Howe.

Redcar Bears: 1. Richard Lawson, 2. Hugh Skidmore (Australia), 3. Mark Lemon (Australia), 4. Carl Wilkinson, 5. Aaron Summers (Australia), 6. Jan Graversen (Denmark), 7. Rafal Konopka (Poland).

Redcar Bears at EWR

Ave Ave Best
Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Performance
Jan Graversen PL 22 99 109 28 4.40 5.54 9 + 4 from 7 rides (2012)
Rafal Konopka PL 1 3 2 0 2.67 2.67 2 from 3 rides (2014)
Richard Lawson PL 11 46 70 8 6.09 6.78 13 + 1 from 5 rides (2014)
Mark Lemon PL 10 48 90 5 7.50 7.91 18 + 1 from 6 rides (inc 6 pts T/R (2009))
Hugh Skidmore PL 18 85 139 11 6.54 7.06 11 + 1 from 5 rides (inc 6 pts T/R (2012))
Aaron Summers PL 15 69 95 8 5.51 5.97 10 + 3 from 5 rides (2014)
Carl Wilkinson PL 87 389 704 66 7.24 7.92 16 + 1 from 6 rides (2010)

Other Notes

Jan Graversen
Former Scunthorpe Scorpion.
Member of King’s Lynn’s Premier League Championship, Premier Trophy and KO Cup Winning Teams in 2009.

Rafal Konopka
Made his Premier League debut for Redcar in April 2014.

Richard Lawson
Member of Workington’s Premier League Fours Winning Team in 2009.
Member of Workington’s Young Shield Winning Team in 2010.
Named as a ‘doubling-up’ rider with Lakeside for the 2014 Elite League Season.

Mark Lemon
Member of Exeter’s Premier Trophy Winning Team in 2004.
Member of Newcastle’s Premier Trophy and Play-Off Winning Teams in 2010.
Member of Newcastle’s Premier Shield Winning Team in 2011.

Hugh Skidmore
2009 New South Wales State Champion.
Made his Premier League debut in 2009 for Sheffield and now in his second season with Redcar.

Aaron Summers
Member of Edinburgh’s Premier League Championship and Premier Trophy Winning Teams in 2008.
Member of Edinburgh’s Premier League Play-Off Winning Teams in 2008 and 2009.
Member of Coventry’s Elite League Winning Team in 2010.
Member of Birmingham’s Premier League Four-Team Championship Winning Team in 2010.

Carl Wilkinson
Former Scunthorpe Scorpion.
Member of Boston’s Conference League KO Cup Winning Team in 2000.
Member of Peterborough’s Conference League Winning Team in 1997.

Redcar Bears’ Results at EWR

30 March 2008 PT D Scunthorpe 45 Redcar 45
06 June 2008 PL L Scunthorpe 52 Redcar 41
19 June 2009 PL L Scunthorpe 49 Redcar 44
31 July 2009 KOC L Scunthorpe 50 Redcar 39
02 October 2009 YS L Scunthorpe 56 Redcar 34
05 April 2010 PT L Scunthorpe 50 Redcar 42
02 May 2010 PL L Scunthorpe 57 Redcar 34
09 September 2011 PL L Scunthorpe 52 Redcar 41
07 October 2011 PL Ph 2 L Scunthorpe 65 Redcar 25
27 April 2012 LC L Scunthorpe 54 Redcar 36
14 September 2012 PL L Scunthorpe 55 Redcar 38
14 June 2013 KOC W Scunthorpe 41 Redcar 49
12 July 2013 PL L Scunthorpe 45 Redcar 44
06 April 2014 LC W Scunthorpe 37 Redcar 50
25 July 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 54 Redcar 39