Scorpions’ chief philosophical after narrow loss at Berwick
BERWICK BANDITS 46 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 44 (PREMIER LEAGUE)
FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, were close to winning away at Berwick last night (Saturday) in their opening Premier League fixture, going down by just two points in a 44-46 defeat.
Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey was philosophical afterwards, saying: “The lads put in 100% and we nearly did it.
“But we came here to gain a point and that’s what we did. In the end, that’s how to have a successful season – to keep winning at home, and picking up points away.”
Godfrey continued: “I couldn’t believe the amount of bad luck that Berwick had tonight – they threw away a lot of points.
“But we then had our own bad luck in Heat 14. Carl Wilkinson, who was giving it absolutely everything as usual, had the race in the bag, when he got out of shape and fell. Without that, we would have won.
“The fog kept on coming and going, and made it a difficult night. We’re happy to come out of a night like that with something to show for our efforts.”
Godfrey also believes the Scorpions ‘four in four nights’ is having a positive effect on the side. The last of those four meetings is a League Cup clash tonight (Sunday) at Newcastle.
“We’ve had never got this result a week ago”, he said. “We’ve started making starts, and getting everything together. This run of fixtures has gone a long way towards that, because the whole team has got laps under their belts. Josh (Auty) and Wilko were on the pace from the start of the season, but we’ve now got seven riders all contributing and as I’ve kept on saying, I only see us getting stronger and stronger as the year progresses.”
The Scorpions had a narrow lead for most of last night, moving ahead with a 5-1 from reserves Nike Lunna and Ellis Perks in Heat 2.
With three heats remaining it was all square, before Josh Auty and David Howe held Ben Barker at bay in Heat 13, for a 5-1 that moved Scunthorpe back into a four-point lead.
However, after Wilko’s fall, the Bandits took a 5-1 in Heat 14, and then former Scorpion Thomas Jorgensen passed Howe for third place in Heat 15, as the Bandits snatched the verdict with a final heat 4-2.
BERWICK BANDITS 46
1. Ben Barker 3 R R 1 (4)
2. Matic Voldrih R/R
3. Kevin Doolan 2* R 3 1* 2* (8+3)
4. Thomas Jorgensen 3 3 2 3 1 (12)
5. Claus Vissing 3 3 3 R 3 (12)
6. Alex Edberg 0 1 2 R 2 3 2* (10+1)
7. Luke Crang FX 0 0 0 (0)
FLUIDAIR POWER SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS SUPPORTED BY HENDERSON INSURANCE 44
1. David Howe 2 1* 1* 3 0 (7+2)
2. Theo Pijper 1* 2 2 2 (7+1)
3. Alex Davies 1 1* 1 1 (4+1)
4. Carl Wilkinson 0 2 3 F (5)
5. Josh Auty 2 3 3 2* 2 (12+1)
6. Ellis Perks 2* 1 0 (3+1)
7. Nike Lunna 3 1* 1* 0 1 (6+2)
1: Barker, Howe, Pijper, Edberg (3-3) (3-3).
2: (Re-run) Lunna, Perks, Edberg, Crang (fell, excluded) (1-5) (4-8).
3: Jorgensen, Doolan, Davies, Wilkinson (5-1) (9-9).
4: (Re-run twice) Vissing, Auty, Lunna, Crang (3-3) (12-12).
5: Jorgensen, Pijper, Howe, Doolan (ret) (3-3) (15-15).
6: Auty, Edberg, Perks, Barker (ret) (2-4) (17-19).
7: Vissing, Wilkinson, Davies. Edberg (ret) (3-3) (20-22).
8: Doolan, Pijper, Lunna, Crang (3-3) (23-25).
9: Auty, Jorgensen, Doolan, Perks (3-3) (26-28).
10: Wilkinson, Edberg, Davies, Barker (ret) (2-4) (28-32).
11: (Re-run) Vissing, Pijper, Howe, Crang (3-3) (31-35).
12: Edberg, Doolan, Davies, Lunna (5-1) (36-36).
13: Howe, Auty, Barker, Vissing (ret) (1-5) (37-41).
14: Jorgensen, Edberg, Lunna, Wilkinson (fell) (5-1) (42-42).
15: Vissing, Auty, Jorgensen, Howe (4-2) (46-44).
