Scorpions finish with a win

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 55 SHEFFIELD TIGERS 39 (PREMIER LEAGUE)

FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions finished their 2014 season with a 55-39 Premier League win over local rivals Sheffield Tigers at the Eddie Wright Raceway yesterday evening (Sunday).

It continues Scunthorpe’s remarkable run of success against their rivals from down the M18. In league competition, the Scorpions have now defeated the Tigers in their last eight encounters. In all competitions, Scunthorpe have won 12 out of their last 14 matches against Sheffield.

The win was achieved despite Josh Auty crashing out of the meeting with Heat 11, with a suspected broken hand and rib injuries, after a second bend accident with team-mate Matt Williamson. Auty was unbeaten in his two completed outings.

Dane Thomas Jorgensen led the way with a superb six-ride paid maximum (16+2) for the Scorpions, and was just 0.01 seconds outside the track record in Heat 1. He received excellent support from David Howe (13+1) and Todd Kurtz (12+2), who both dropped just a single point to the opposition.

Howe won the Kenny Smith Memorial Shield, by winning Heat 15.

Both teams promoted one of the National League Scunthorpe Stags into their line-up, and both Sam Chapman (4+2) and Arron Mogridge (3) got themselves amongst the points.

Scorpions’ team manager Dave Peet said: “It was good to finish off with a win.

“Josh was in quite a lot of pain with his fingers, with them taped together, and I suspect he has suffered a break.

“We just had to do the best with the resources we had left. Thomas Jorgensen and David Howe provided the backbone for us, while Todd Kurtz was a fantastic guest.

“Matt Williamson rode better than his score suggested, while Sam Chapman was far from disgraced.”

David Howe said: “I’ve achieved two things this year: I’ve regained the No 1 spot in the team and I’ve come through the season unscathed, following two-injury hit seasons.

“I’ll be honest, I was finding it hard to motivate myself today – I just wanted to get through the meeting in one piece, especially as I start a new full-time job on Monday morning. Maybe that doesn’t show too much in my score, because I only dropped one point.

“I knew the Kenny Smith Memorial Shield was riding on the last race, and I really wanted to win that one. Josh and myself are the two Scunthorpe riders who have been here long enough to remember Kenny, so it’s a privilege to win his shield again.”

SCUNTHORPE 55: Thomas Jorgensen 16+2, David Howe 13+1, Todd Kurtz 12+2, Josh Auty 6, Sam Chapman 4+2, Matt Williamson 4, Ryan Douglas r/r.
SHEFFIELD 39: Aaron Summers 15, Carl Wilkinson 9, Benji Compton 5, Ben Wilson 4+2, Leigh Lanham 3+2, Arron Mogridge 3, Taylor Poole r/r.