Scorpions suffer heavy loss after opening heat disaster
NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS 63 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 26 (TRAVEL PLUS TOURS KNOCKOUT CUP, first round, second leg)
Newcastle win 100-79 on aggregate
FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, suffered what promoter Rob Godfrey described as “maybe our most embarrassing and shocking defeat in ten years” at Newcastle’s Brough Park yesterday evening (Sunday), sustaining a heavy 26-63 loss to the Diamonds, to crash out of the Travel Plus Tours Knockout Cup.
Any chance that the Scorpions had of an aggregate win took a major knock in a disastrous few seconds of Heat 1 at Brough Park.
With guest Thomas Jorgensen and Theo Pijper on a 5-1 that would have extended Scunthorpe’s aggregate lead to 20 points, Jorgensen lost a chain, causing Pijper to fall. The race was awarded as a 5-0 to Newcastle, and the momentum swung firmly behind the Diamonds.
While that was unlucky, the next few races saw a complete rout, as the Diamonds moved into a 30-5 lead and the spectre of a complete whitewash briefly raised its head.
Two 5-1s to Scunthorpe in Heat 7 (from Carl Wilkinson & Alex Davies) and Heat 14 (from Wilko & Nike Lunna) prevented a complete and utter annihilation, but nevertheless it was a hefty defeat for the Scorpions.
Godfrey said: “It was our maybe our most embarrassing and shocking defeat in ten years. Maybe we’ve had a worse one, but nothing comes to mind right now. I’m not sure if we were that bad or whether Newcastle were that good, or whether it was both.
“In Heat 1, we had a clear 5-1 when Thomas (Jorgensen) shed a chain. He ended up impeding Theo (Pijper), who fell, but the referee let the race continue, and then awarded it 5-0 to the Diamonds.
“We just fell apart after that. The statistics don’t lie in this case. It was shocking, and there’s not a lot else that I can say. We’ve let ourselves down, because I really felt they were there for the taking, and I really wanted a clash with Glasgow in the next round.”
NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS 63
1. Lewis Kerr 3 3 3 2* (11+1)
2. Anton Rosen 2* 2* 2 2* 1 (9+3)
3. Steve Worrall 2* 3 3 3 (11+1)
4. Christian Henry 3 2* 1 0 (6+1)
5. Ludvig Lindgren (C) 3 1 2* 3 3 (12+1)
6. Simon Nielsen 3 0 3 1 (7)
7. Lewis Rose 2* 2* 1* 2* (7+4)
FLUIDAIR POWER SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS SUPPORTED BY HENDERSON INSURANCE 26
1. Thomas Jorgensen (Guest) X 0 0 0 (0)
2. Theo Pijper FX 1 1 3 1 0 (6)
3. Ryan Douglas R/R
4. Carl Wilkinson FX 3 1 1 3 (8)
5. Alex Davies (pictured) 1 1 2* 2 1 2 (9+1)
6. Ben Wilson 1 0 0 0 (1)
7. Nike Lunna 0 F 0 0 2* (2+1)
1: Kerr, Rosen, Jorgensen (excluded), Pijper (fell, excluded), awarded – no time (5-0) (5-0).
2: Nielsen, Rose, Wilson, Lunna, 66.1 (5-1) (10-1).
3: Henry, Worrall, Pijper, Wilkinson (fell, excluded), awarded – no time (5-1) (15-2).
4: Lindgren, Rose, Davies, Lunna (fell), 64.9 (5-1) (20-3).
5: Worrall, Henry, Pijper, Jorgensen, 63.7 (5-1) (25-4).
6: Kerr, Rosen, Davies, Wilson, 63.6 (5-1) (30-5).
7: (Re-run) Wilkinson, Davies, Lindgren, Nielsen, 63.4 (1-5) (31-10).
8: Pijper, Rosen, Rose, Lunna, 63.5 (3-3) (34-13).
9: Worrall, Davies, Henry, Wilson, 63.5 (4-2) (38-15).
10: Kerr, Rosen, Wilkinson, Lunna, 63.4 (5-1) (43-16).
11: Nielsen, Lindgren, Pijper, Jorgensen, 65.0 (5-1) (48-17).
12: Worrall, Rose, Wilkinson, Wilson, 63.6 (5-1) (53-18).
13: Lindgren, Kerr, Davies, Jorgensen, 64.6 (5-1) (58-19).
14: Wilkinson, Lunna, Nielsen, Henry, 64.2 (1-5) (59-24).
15: Lindgren, Davies, Rosen, Pijper, 64.0 (4-2) (63-26).
Newcastle win 100-79 on aggregate.
