Scunthorpe Scorpions vs Newcastle Diamonds preview
FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, take a break from Premier League action, when they entertain the Newcastle Diamonds in the first round of the Travel Plus Tours Knockout Cup at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday evening (7.30pm).
The first leg of this Knockout Cup tie was due to take place at Newcastle’s Brough Park on May 3, but was rained off. The Brough Park leg will now take place on Sunday, June 28, in place of the Premier League meeting scheduled between the two sides on that date.
Scunthorpe’s mission on Friday night for what is now the first leg is simple… to build up as big a lead as possible to defend at Brough Park for the second leg.
The Scorpions and Diamonds will see plenty of each together during 2015. They were in the same League Cup group, and there are still Premier League clashes to follow between the two sides.
The League Cup clashes suggest a very close KO Cup tie over two legs, since the Scorpions defeat the Diamonds by 53-37 on April 17 at the Eddie Wright Raceway, while the Diamonds won by 53-39 at Brough Park two days later. Although it should be pointed out that, since then, the Scorpions have bolstered their line-up, with the introduction of Ryan Douglas and Ben Wilson. Both Douglas & Wilson will make their second appearance of the season in Scorpions’ colours on Friday night.
With Josh Auty still out with a hand injury, Berwick’s Ben Barker again comes in to guest in the No 1 spot. Barker also guested for the Scorpions at Somerset, and was due to guest at Plymouth in the postponed meeting last Saturday.
Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey says: “We’ve booked Ben Barker as a guest once more. Ben is a rider who will always give 100% in every meeting he races in, whether it’s for his regular team or a guest or whatever.
“He’s the common sense choice at the moment, because his average isn’t that far from Josh’s.
“If we’re looking to progress in the cup, and I can you assure that we are, then it’s not just about winning on Friday, but also building up a lead that we can defend when we go to Brough Park.
“Cup meetings always have a slightly different flavour, because you don’t have to defend from tactical rides, because they aren’t allowed in this competition.
“I’m sure Friday is going to be a night of some awesome racing, while we will doing everything we can to ensure we come out of the meeting with the result we require.”
The Scorpions won the third-tier Knockout Cup in both 2006 and 2007, but have only reached the semi-finals at Premier League level once before in their history (in 2009).
A good omen is that the side that the Scorpions defeated in the first round in 2009 were Newcastle.
Admission prices for Friday:
Adult: £15.00
Student/OAP: £13.00
Child (10 – 17): £5.00
Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult)
Family Ticket £35 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17)
Match Programme: £1.00
Expected teams for Friday:
FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance: 1. Ben Barker (guest for Josh Auty), 2. Theo Pijper, 3. Ryan Douglas, 4. Carl Wilkinson, 5. Alex Davies, 6. Ben Wilson, 7. Nike Lunna.
Newcastle Diamonds: 1. Lewis Kerr, 2. Anton Rosen, 3. Steve Worrall, 4. Christian Henry, 5. Ludvig Lindgren, 6. Simon Nielsen, 7. Lewis Rose.
Newcastle Diamonds at EWR
Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Best Performance
Christian Henry PL 9 41 48 6 4.68 5.27 9 + 2 from 6 rides (2013)
Lewis Kerr PL 4 17 23 4 5.41 6.35 7 + 2 from 4 rides (2013)
Ludvig Lindgren PL 8 38 62 3 6.53 6.84 14 from 5 rides (inc 4 pts T/R (2009))
Simon Nielsen PL 5 19 10 3 2.11 2.74 4 + 1 from 4 rides (2013)
Lewis Rose PL 2 11 10 0 3.64 3.64 5 from 5 rides (2014)
Anton Rosen PL 2 11 21 2 7.64 8.36 12 + 1 from 5 rides (2015)
Steve Worrall PL 31 128 114 26 3.56 4.38 10 + 2 from 5 rides (2011)
Other Notes
Christian Henry
Member of Glasgow’s Premier League Championship Winners in 2011.
Member of Newcastle’s Premier League KO Cup Winning Team in 2012.
Member of Newcastle’s Premier Shield Winning Team in 2013.
Lewis Kerr
Member of Newcastle’s League Cup and Premier Shield Winning Teams in 2013.
Made his British League debut with King’s Lynn’s National League side in 2010.
A Fast-Track Reserve with King’s Lynn for the 2015 Elite League season.
Ludvig Lindgren
Member of Wolverhampton’s Elite Shield Winning Teams in 2010 and 2011.
Member of Newcastle’s Premier League KO Cup Winning Team in 2012.
Member of Newcastle’s League Cup and Premier Shield Winning Teams in 2013.
Simon Nielsen
Made his Premier League debut with Workington in 2011.
Winner of the 2005 Individual FIM Youth Gold Trophy (80cc), unofficial Under-16 World Championship.
Lewis Rose
Made his British League debut with King’s Lynn’s National League side in 2013.
A Fast-Track Reserve with Swindon for the 2015 Elite League season.
Anton Rosen
Member of Newcastle’s League Cup Winning Team in 2013.
Swedish rider who made his British League debut with Newcastle in 2013.
Steve Worrall
Former Scunthorpe Scorpion and Saint.
Member of the Saints’ National League Winning Team in 2011.
Member of Newcastle’s Premier Shield Winning Team in 2013.
Member of Edinburgh’s Premier League Championship, KO Cup and League Cup Winning Teams in 2014.
Member of Cradley’s National League Championship, KO Cup, NL Shield and NL Fours Winning Teams in 2014.
A Fast-Track Reserve with Belle Vue for the 2015 Elite League season.
Newcastle’s Results at EWR:
04 April 2008 PT L Scunthorpe 55 Newcastle 38
16 May 2008 PL L Scunthorpe 56 Newcastle 36
08 May 2009 KOC (1) L Scunthorpe 65 Newcastle 25
07 August 2009 PL L Scunthorpe 51 Newcastle 45
14 May 2010 KOC (1) L Scunthorpe 49 Newcastle 41
23 July 2010 PL L Scunthorpe 52 Newcastle 39
01 April 2011 PL L Scunthorpe 47 Newcastle 42
30 March 2012 LC L Scunthorpe 46 Newcastle 44
13 July 2012 PL L Scunthorpe 48 Newcastle 42
12 April 2013 PS (1) L Scunthorpe 50 Newcastle 43
05 July 2013 PL L Scunthorpe 46 Newcastle 44
18 April 2014 LC L Scunthorpe 49 Newcastle 44
27 June 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 58 Newcastle 38
17 April 2015 LC L Scunthorpe 53 Newcastle 37
