SCORPIONS FADE, AFTER BRIGHT START AT POOLE

SCORPIONS FADE, AFTER BRIGHT START AT POOLE

POOLE PIRATES 55 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 35 (Cab Direct Championship)

ELLIE ROSE TRAVEL Scunthorpe Scorpions commenced their Cab Direct Championship league fixtures with a 35-55 defeat at reigning champions Poole Pirates last night (Wednesday) – in what was very much a meeting of two halves.

Scunthorpe looked highly competitive early on. Steve Worrall and Luke Harrison took an opening 4-2 from Heat 1, and Scorpions led 14-10 following a 5-1 from Jake Allen and Zaine Kennedy over Poole skipper Zach Cook in Heat 4.

Poole then took a narrow two-point lead and it was still tight at 25-23 to Pirates after eight races. But Poole then pulled away with back-to-back 5-1s and finished the night with four successive heat advantages.

Both Harrison and Declan Kennedy took heavy falls in the closing stages. Harrison fell on the first corner of Heat 11. The race had already been stopped, with Worrall excluded for a second starting offence, while Harrison was unable to place in the re-run. Meanwhile, Kennedy took a pearler while in pursuit in Heat 12.

Both Kennedy brothers rode well from reserve, with Zaine scoring 7+2 and Declan 6+1. The consistent Connor Mountain ended up as Scorpions’ top scorer on eight points.

Scunthorpe promoter and stand-in manager Rob Godfrey said: “We had the correct set-up for the track to begin with, but it got away from us as the meeting progressed. 

“There was no lack of effort from the side, especially the Kennedy boys at reserve, who just keep on battling and trying different things, but they lost the set-up at the end. Declan took a heavy fall in his last ride, but I believe most of the damage was to his bike.

“With Luke Harrison, he’s a bit battered and bruised. He’s a tough lad and he’ll put ice on it, but we’ll see how he’s feeling in the morning and take it from there.

“It was definitely a meeting of two halves tonight, and the final scoreline didn’t quite reflect how long we kept it close.

“But we won’t dwell on it, because we’re back at home to Glasgow at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday. We had a big home win against Workington last week, and although Glasgow might present a tougher challenge, we want to keep our home track a fortress and take another decent-sized victory on Friday night. It’s going to be a tremendous night of speedway which is not to be missed.”

POOLE 55: Anders Rowe 15, Richard Lawson 13+1, Lewis Kerr 8+2, Zach Cook 8, Tobias Thomsen 6+1, Paul Starke 4, Darryl Ritchings 1.

SCUNTHORPE 35: Connor Mountain 8, Zaine Kennedy 7+2, Steve Worrall 7, Declan Kennedy 6+1, Luke Harrison 3+1, Jake Allen 3, Simon Lambert 1+1.

* ELLIE ROSE TRAVEL Scunthorpe Scorpions host Glasgow Tigers at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday (May 16) at 7.30pm in what looks like a mouth-watering fixture.