Alex Davies stars, but Scorpions fall to Monarchs

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 40 EDINBURGH MONARCHS 50 (PREMIER LEAGUE)

A 15-POINT HAUL from Australian Alex Davies was not enough to prevent the FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, suffering a 40-50 home loss to reigning Premier League champions Edinburgh Monarchs at the Eddie Wright Raceway yesterday afternoon (Bank Holiday Monday).

Davies twice defeated Monarchs’ top dog Craig Cook, who flies around the track and scored a maximum in the equivalent fixture in both 2013 and 2014.

In fact, Davies would have made it a hat-trick of wins over Cook, had he not be caught on the line by his rival in Heat 9, after Davies and Carl Wilkinson tried to team-ride against Cook, and a result, the Monarch passed both of them.

The meeting was in the balance for most of the afternoon. Scunthorpe took the lead after a 4-2 from Josh Auty and Nike Lunna in Heat 1, with the Scorpions twice building up a four-point lead, only to be pegged back on both occasions.

The Monarchs took the lead for the first time in a Heat 11 which caused much discussion on the terraces after Lunna was excluded under the two-minute time allowance, apparently just moments after being placed into the race. Lunna produced a barnstorming ride to recover from his 15-metre handicap to pass Rob Branford, only for Branford to recover third position, in a tight last lap battle.

Edinburgh then took another three successive heat advantages, with Scunthorpe’s last hope of taking anything from the meeting disappearing, when Wilkinson – with a typical fully-committed ride – fell trying to go around Justin Sedgmen in Heat 14.

There was some fine racing throughout the meeting (some of Cook’s dashes from behind had to be seen to be believed), and there was still time for a cracking Heat 15. Davies and Theo Pijper were first away, while Cook almost fell on the first bend. Davies picked up some unwanted drive, and accidentally took Pijper wide, allowing Kevin Wolbert to come through from third to first. But Davies regained the lead with a determined pass on Wolbert, while Cook took third by blasting around Pijper on the final lap.

Scorpions’ top scorer Alex Davies said: “That was a real confidence booster for me, to do so well against a strong team like Edinburgh, and also to beat Craig Cook a couple of times around here.

“After my previous good meeting here, I dipped again here last time out, but I hope I’ve now turned the corner for good.

“I was making better starts today. I went to Theo Pijper’s workshop the other day, and he showed me a few things with clutch set up.

“My clutches were great today. I have to give credit for Theo for his help. I did apologise to him after Heat 15, when I picked up a bit of drive and took him wide I appreciate everything both he and Scunthorpe Speedway have done for me.”

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “I think it’s fair to say that we were beaten by the better team.

“It was a good meeting today, with some terrific racing, but it wasn’t the result we were looking for.

“I can’t point the finger to any particular rider; we were simply beaten by a better side and we didn’t have enough race winners. Kevin Wolbert has never rode around this track that well before, and Edinburgh are going to be hard to stop if Cook, Masters and Wolbert carry on like that for the rest of the season.

“There’s not much we can do, at the moment, with the team. We just need to get through May, and then there should be something we can do at the end of the month.

“Alex Davies was the rider in this meeting that I remembered riding around here in 2012 and 2013.

“It always takes a little time for a rider to get back into the groove after a year out.

“I signed Alex Davies because I knew he could score good points around here, and his performance in this meeting has vindicated that faith. I knew that if he started a meeting well here, he could have a really good meeting and that’s what happened.

“He hasn’t been making starts until today, so he’s made some changes to his clutch. But he’s not just about starts, it’s the way he rides the bikes, it’s fabulous to watch, and I think he’ll go from strength-to-strength from here.”

FLUIDAIR POWER SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS SUPPORTED BY HENDERSON INSURANCE 40
1. Josh Auty 3 1 2 2 (8)
2. David Howe R/R
3. Alex Davies 3 2 3 2 2 3 (15)
4. Carl Wilkinson 2* 1* 2 1* FX (6+3)
5. Theo Pijper 2 1 1* 2 0 0 (6+1)
6. Matt Williamson (Guest) 0 0 1 (1)
7. Nike Lunna 1 2 0 1* 0 0 (4+1)

EDINBURGH MONARCHS 50
1. Sam Masters 2 3 3 1 (9)
2. Erik Riss R/R
3. Kevin Wolbert 1 2* 3 3 3 2 (14+1)
4. Justin Sedgmen 0 3 0 3 (6)
5. Craig Cook 3 2 3 3 1* (12+1)
6. Max Clegg 0 3 0 0 0 (3)
7. Robert Branford 1 1 0 1 1 2* (6+1)

1: Auty, Masters, Lunna, Clegg, 57.19 (4-2) (4-2).
2: Clegg, Lunna, Branford, Williamson, 58.63 (2-4) (6-6).
3: Davies, Wilkinson, Wolbert, Sedgmen, 57.88 (5-1) (11-7).
4: Cook, Pijper, Branford, Lunna, 57.87 (2-4) (13-11).
5: Masters, Davies, Wilkinson, Clegg, 57.81 (3-3) (16-14).
6: Davies, Cook, Auty, Clegg, 57.44 (4-2) (20-16).
7: Sedgmen, Wolbert, Pijper, Williamson, 57.87 (1-5) (21-21).
8: Wolbert, Wilkinson, Lunna, Branford, 57.12 (3-3) (24-24).
9: Cook, Davies, Wilkinson, Clegg, 58.75 (3-3) (27-27).
10: Wolbert, Auty, Pijper, Sedgmen, 57.75 (3-3) (30-30).
11: Masters, Pijper, Branford, Lunna (penalised 15m for exceeding two minutes), 59.38 (2-4) (32-34).
12: Wolbert, Davies, Branford, Lunna, 58.37 (2-4) (34-38).
13: Cook, Auty, Masters, Pijper, 58.06 (2-4) (36-42).
14: (Re-run) Sedgmen, Branford, Williamson, Wilkinson (fell, excluded), 59.81 (1-5) (37-47).
15: Davies, Wolbert, Cook, Pijper, 58.94 (3-3) (40-50).

* In the second meeting, the Scunthorpe Stags picked up an exciting 45-43 win over Halifax Dukes, despite being seven points behind with two races to go. In a dramatic final race, Adam Kirby fell and was excluded and then Wayne Carter (while in a match-winning second place for Halifax) suffered an engine failure in the re-run, to leave Lee Payne and Adam Extance to grab victory for the Stags with a 5-0. Max Clegg scored a 12-point maximum for Halifax. Full report to follow on Tuesday evening.

PHOTO: Pretty in pink!  Alex Davies and Carl Wilkinson on their way to a 5-1 in Heat 3.