Improved Stags push Stoke all the way

SCUNTHORPE STAGS 41 STOKE POTTERS 48 (NATIONAL LEAGUE)

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Stags put in their best performance of the season yesterday afternoon (Sunday), pushing play-off chasing Stoke Potters all the way at the Eddie Wright Raceway in a National League match, before going down to a narrow 41-48 loss.

It was the first time that the inexperienced riders of the Stags have been in serious contention to win a meeting during the season.

The Stags had looked much improved in recent away meetings, although the scorelines have not necessarily reflected that. Yesterday’s meeting was the team’s first home meeting for three months, and showed how far they have come, in a meeting that contained some very fine racing.

After 10 races, the deficit was just one point at 29-30, and the Stags only lost the meeting in Heat 14, after Ryan MacDonald touched the tapes and team-mate Reece Downes flipped his machine as a consequence. A battered Downes still bravely passed Rob Shuttleworth for second place in the re-run.

Stoke only won their fourth National League point (for an away win by seven points or more) in Heat 15, after an absorbing battle between all four riders in that race. The Potters held a 5-1 early on, but that switched to a 4-2 to the Stags by mid-race as Sam Chapman and Arron Mogridge battled back, and it needed a quality pass by Ben Hopwood on Chapman with a lap remaining for the Potters to secure the result they required.

Sam Chapman said: “The team has progressed since the beginning of the year. We’ve had a lot of crashes and a lot of trials, but now we’ve settled down and picked up the pace, and now we’re starting to get the job done.

“In Heat 13, Ben Hopwoood had a bit more speed than me and he passed me, so I dropped a tooth and had a good race with him in Heat 15. In the end, his experience told, I think. I went from third to first on the first lap, and then he just pipped me at the end. I really enjoyed that race.

“We’re now all bonding and listening to each other. At the start of the season, we were all new to league racing. We were concentrating on ourselves – we were individuals. It was tough for us to begin with. But now we’re doing better as a team and it’s lifting everyone.

“We’ve got the two meetings against Buxton left and hopefully we can have good ones against them, and finish on a high.”

Arron Mogridge said: “We clicked together today. I really enjoyed the meeting and I know the other boys did as well.

“We were encouraging each other. When we got good results, we took them back to the pits, to gee up each other.

“We’ve had some gaps in our fixtures, and been finding rides where we can. It’s nice to come back here, after a few away meetings, and show what we’re now capable of.”

HENDERSON INSURANCE SCUNTHORPE STAGS 41
1. Steve Jones 1* 3 3 1* (8+2)
2. Arron Mogridge 2 1 2 2* 1* (8+2)
3. Danno Verge 1 0 0 3 (4)
4. Reece Downes FX 2 2 2 (6)
5. Sam Chapman 1* 3 1 2 2 (9+1)
6. Conor Dwyer 0 1 0 0 (1)
7. Ryan MacDonald 3 2 TX 0 0 (5)

STOKE POTTERS 48
1. Simon Lambert R/R
2. Chris Widman 0 1 3 2* 0 (6+1)
3. Jon Armstrong 3 3 R R 1* (7+1)
4. Lee Payne 2* 2 X 3 3 0 (10+1)
5. Ben Hopwood 3 3 2 3 3 3 (17)
6. Adam Kirby 1* 0 1 2 (4+1)
7. Rob Shuttleworth 2 0 1 1 (4)
8. Ellis Perks DNR

1: Hopwood, Mogridge, Jones, Widman, 62.57 (3-3) (3-3).
2: MacDonald, Shuttleworth, Kirby, Dwyer, 63.06 (3-3) (6-6).
3: (Re-run) Armstrong, Payne, Verge, Downes (fell, excluded) (15m penalty for tape touching), no time –awarded (1-5) (7-11).
4: Hopwood, MacDonald, Chapman, Shuttleworth, 62.38 (3-3) (10-14).
5: (Re-run) Armstrong (15m penalty for tape touching), Downes, Widman, Verge, 62.43 (2-4) (12-18).
6: Jones, Hopwood, Mogridge, Kirby, 59.94 (4-2) (16-20).
7: Chapman, Payne, Dwyer, Armstrong (ret), 60.87 (4-2) (20-22).
8: Widman, Mogridge, Shuttleworth, Dwyer, MacDonald (excluded, tape touching), 61.00 (2-4) (22-26).
9: Hopwood, Downes, Kirby, Verge, 60.38 (2-4) (24-30).
10: Jones, Mogridge, Payne (excluded, cause of stoppage), Armstrong (ret), no time – awarded (5-0) (29-30),
11: Payne, Widman, Chapman, Dwyer, 59.81 (1-5) (30-35).
12: Verge, Kirby, Armstrong, MacDonald, 60.75 (3-3) (33-38).
13: Hopwood, Chapman, Jones, Widman, 59.75 (3-3) (36-41).
14: (Re-run) Payne, Downes, Shuttleworth, MacDonald (15m penalty for tape touching), 61.12 (2-4) (38-45).
15: Hopwood, Chapman, Mogridge, Payne, 60.19 (3-3) (41-48).

PHOTO: Sam Chapman & Arron Mogridge battling Ben Hopwood & Lee Payne in Heat 15.