SCORPIONS OUT TO SHOCK THE CHAMPIONS

ELLIE ROSE TRAVEL Scunthorpe Scorpions are not travelling down to Poole’s Wimborne Road for their opening Cab Direct Championship league clash tonight (Wednesday, 7.30pm) simply to make up the numbers.

Scorpions head into the meeting buoyed by a large 61-29 home victory over Workington in their concluding BSN Series fixture at the Eddie Wright Raceway last Friday.

Reigning league champions Poole Pirates – by their own high standards – have had a shaky start to the season and lost at home to Oxford last week. The Pirates’ management have subsequently made a team change, with Darryl Ritchings replacing Matt Marson at reserve.

Scunthorpe have proved highly competitive in some of their fixtures at Poole in recent seasons, most notably in the Knockout Cup Final in October 2023, a night when Scorpions won their first major silverware for 11 years.

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godrey said: “It’s a long way to travel for us down to Poole on the South Coast. We’re not going all that way and simply accepting that we’re going to come off second best. We will go into the meeting with a positive attitude and see where that takes us.

“Poole’s home track is usually a bit of a fortress, but they lost their last meeting around there. They’ll be wanting to respond to that, but at the same time, we’ll be looking to continue their misery and come away from Wimborne Road with two Cab Direct Championship points on the board.”

A couple of Scorpions, Steve Worrall and Connor Mountain, were involved in an absorbing British Final at the National Speedway Stadium in Manchester on Monday, and scored six and five points respectively. Vinnie Foord from the National League Steelers was also involved after a late call-up, but failed to score.

Expected teams for tonight (Wednesday):

Poole Pirates: 1. Richard Lawson, 2. Tobias Thomsen, 3. Anders Rowe, 4. Lewis Kerr, 5. Zach Cook (C), 6. Paul Starke, 7. Darryl Ritchings.

Ellie Rose Travel Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Steve Worrall, 2. Luke Harrison, 3. Simon Lambert (C), 4. Connor Mountain, 5. Jake Allen, 6. Declan Kennedy, 7. Zaine Kennedy.

* ELLIE ROSE TRAVEL Scunthorpe Scorpions are next in action at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday (May 16) at 7.30pm, when they entertain the Glasgow Tigers in further Cab Direct Championship action.