Easter Monday double-header preview
ENTERTAINMENT THE NAME OF THE GAME AS SCORPIONS CELEBRATE 10th ANNIVERSARY
FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, commence their home fixtures at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Easter Monday (3pm), entertaining local rivals Sheffield Tigers in a League Cup clash.
There are 30 heats of entertainment on display in a Bank Holiday bonanza, as the Scunthorpe Stags complete a double header of action, by hosting Buxton Hitmen in a National League challenge match.
Monday’s meeting also sees Scunthorpe celebrate that speedway at the Eddie Wright Raceway has passed its 10th birthday. The first meeting at Normanby Road took place on March 27th, 2005. The Scunthorpe Telegraph Trophy meeting was won by Danny Norton.
Looking at the season ahead, promoter Rob Godfrey is hopeful of team success, while he guarantees that the entertainment value at Scunthorpe, rated by many as the best racetrack in British Speedway, will again be top notch.
Godfrey says: “Every team in the league wants to win things, and we’re no different. I think we’ve got a great team, and also it will be a team that improves over the course of the year.
“We’ve got a real mix of riders. We’ve got plenty of experience in the top five, plus two very talented 18-year-olds at reserve in Nike Lunna and Ellis Perks.
“Of course, you can’t guarantee team success, because a certain amount of luck is also involved. But I think we can definitely qualify for the play-offs.”
Godfrey continues: “The one thing I can guarantee is that we’ll always look to entertain the fans. At the end of the day, we are in the entertainment business.
“I’m proud of the record we have, in winning the Premier League track of the year for three out of the last five seasons.
“We’ll be looking to maintain those high standards that we’ve set for ourselves with the track preparation. You can’t get it exactly right 100% of the time, because of variables such as the weather, but nine times out of ten we do have a racetrack that allows some fantastic racing.
“I can’t promise we’ll win the league but I can promise everyone another great season of the best racing. Once again, we’ve got a team of seven riders who are all racers.”
Sheffield are Monday’s opponents for Scunthorpe, and look to have a much stronger side in 2015. The Scorpions will be looking to make amends after a 35-57 defeat at Sheffield in their opening fixture.
Scorpions’ captain David Howe says: “There is no need to press the panic button just yet, after one bad meeting at Sheffield.”
In a tweet after that meeting, in which he only scored two points, Howe said: Want to say sorry to @SpeedwayScunny riders, fans and management for tonight, no excuses but had a tough day. We are getting close to fixing gremlins, I have 2 meetings this weekend and I’m confident I will have things sorted by then.
Howe now adds: “In my head I made the Sheffield meeting a catastrophe, but I have just got to get it out of my head.
“We do ride our track very well and we need to re-address the balance on Monday. We lost at Sheffield, but we need to win at home.”
Easter Monday’s adult admission price for the double-header is £17. It’s just £2 more than a single Premier League meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway, for 15 extra heats of action. A full and exciting afternoon of racing is ahead. Don’t miss it!
Admission prices for Easter Monday:
Adult: £17.00
Student/OAP: £15.00
Child (10 – 17): £5.00
Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult)
Family Ticket £39 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17)
Match Programme: £1.00
Teams for Easter Monday:
FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance: 1. David Howe, 2. Theo Pijper, 3. Alex Davies, 4. Carl Wilkinson, 5. Josh Auty, 6. Ellis Perks, 7. Nike Lunna.
Sheffield Tigers: 1. Simon Stead, 2. Andre Compton, 3. Ashley Birks, 4. Ty Proctor, 5. David Bellego, 6. Josh Bates, 7. Arthur Sissis.
Scunthorpe Stags: 1. Tom Stokes, 2. Alex Wilson, 3. Adam Kirby, 4. Conor Dwyer, 5. Martin Knuckey, 6. Bradley Seal, 7. Jamie Halder.
Buxton Hitmen: 1. Ben Hopwood, 2. Tom Woolley, 3. Cameron Hoskins, 4. Paul Bowen, 5. Adam Extance, 6. Sam Darroch, 7. Kev Whelan.
Sheffield Tigers at EWR
Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Performance
Josh Bates PL 7 37 15 2 1.62 1.84 5 from 4 rides (2014)
David Bellego PL 8 33 42 4 5.09 5.58 9 from 4 rides (2013)
Ashley Birks PL 58 277 480 63 6.93 7.84 13 + 2 from 5 rides (2013/2014)
Andre Compton PL 13 56 92 9 6.57 7.21 13 from 5 rides (2005)
Ty Proctor PL 6 27 46 7 6.81 7.85 10 + 4 from 6 rides (2008)
Arthur Sissis PL DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR
Simon Stead PL 5 22 48 1 8.72 8.91 15 + 1 from 5 rides (inc 6 pts T/R (2014))
Other Notes
Josh Bates
Former Scunthorpe Scorpion.
2014 British Under-21 Champion.
Member of Mildenhall’s National League Championship, KO Cup and Trophy Winning Teams in 2012.
Member of Mildenhall’s National League Trophy Winning Team in 2014.
Named as a Fast-Track Reserve with Wolverhampton for the 2015 Elite League season.
David Bellego
2010 French Championship Winner.
Member of Glasgow’s Premier League Championship Winning Team in 2011.
Member of Berwick’s Premier League Fours Winning Team in 2012.
Ashley Birks
2012 National League Riders’ Champion.
Former Scunthorpe Scorpion who captained the 2012 Premier League Championship Winning Team.
Is in 7th place on the list of Scunthorpe’s all-time top points scorers, having scored 1210 points for the club.
Member of the Scunthorpe/Sheffield National League Championship Winning Team in 2011.
Named as a Fast-Track Reserve with Lakeside for the 2015 Elite League season.
Andre Compton
2004 Premier League Riders’ Champion.
Member of Sheffield’s Premier League Championship, Young Shield and Fours Winning Teams in 1999.
Member of Newcastle’s 2001 Premier League Championship Winning Team.
Member of Poole’s Craven Shield Winning Team in 2002.
Member of Workington’s Young Shield and Premier League Fours Winning Teams in 2009.
Member of Workington’s Young Shield Winning Team in 2010.
Ty Proctor
2010 Victoria State Champion.
Member of Wolverhampton’s Elite League Championship Winning Team in 2009.
Member of Wolverhampton’s Elite Shield Winning Teams in 2010 and 2011.
Arthur Sissis
Riding in his debut Premier League season.
2008/2009 Australian Under-16 Champion.
Simon Stead
2014 Premier League Riders’ Champion.
Three times British Under-21 Champion (2001 to 20003).
Youth Development League Riders Champion 1998.
Has ridden in 4 Grand Prix and 11 Speedway World Cup meetings.
Member of Peterborough’s Premier League Championship Winning Team in 1998.
Member of Sheffield’s Premier League Championship and Young Shield Winning Teams in 1999 and 2002.
Member of Sheffield’s Premier Trophy Winning Team in 2001 and KO Cup Winning Team in 2002.
Three times Premier League Fours Winner (1999/2000 with Sheffield and 2004 with Workington).
Member of Workington’s Premier League Pairs Winning Duo in 2003.
Member of Belle Vue’s Elite League Pairs Winning Duo in 2006.
Member of Belle Vue’s Elite League KO Cup Winning Team in 2005.
Member of Coventry’s Elite League Craven Shield Winning Team in 2008.
Member of Swindon’s Elite League Winning Team in 2012.
Named as a ‘doubling-up’ rider with Belle Vue for the 2015 Elite League season.
Sheffield Tigers’ Results at EWR
23 October 2005 CH L Scunthorpe 47 Sheffield 43
30 October 2007 CH W Scunthorpe 44 Sheffield 45
21 March 2008 PT W Scunthorpe 41 Sheffield 48
11 April 2008 KOC W Scunthorpe 44 Sheffield 48
15 August 2008 PL W Scunthorpe 43 Sheffield 47
20 March 2009 CH L Scunthorpe 60 Sheffield 32
05 May 2009 PL L Scunthorpe 57 Sheffield 38
19 March 2010 PT L Scunthorpe 43 Sheffield 33
30 August 2010 PL W Scunthorpe 41 Sheffield 51
18 March 2011 CH W Scunthorpe 43 Sheffield 47
10 June 2011 PL L Scunthorpe 46 Sheffield 43
04 June 2012 LC W Scunthorpe 40 Sheffield 50
17 August 2012 PL L Scunthorpe 51 Sheffield 42
05 April 2013 LC L Scunthorpe 50 Sheffield 38
21 June 2013 PL L Scunthorpe 63 Sheffield 31
29 September 2013 RC L Scunthorpe 54 Sheffield 24
30 March 2014 LC W Scunthorpe 42 Sheffield 48
09 July 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 54 Sheffield 39
12 October 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 55 Sheffield 39
