Pijper leads Scorpions to victory; fine home debut from Holub

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 54 NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS 38 (PREMIER LEAGUE)

FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, put all their problems behind him, to score a fine 54-38 Premier League victory over Newcastle Diamonds at the Eddie Wright Raceway last night (Friday).

This was a real potential banana skin fixture, with new signing 19-year-old Czech Zdenek Holub taking his very first rides around the circuit – he hadn’t had a chance to practice beforehand – and the Scorpions forced to use rider replacement for leading light Ryan Douglas, who suffered a season-ending broken leg the previous night at Sheffield.

With the Diamonds 7-5 ahead after two races, a hard-fought night’s racing seemed ahead. But then Theo Pijper and Carl Wilkinson took the first of three 5-1s as a pairing in Heat 3, before Holub – in just his second ride around the EWR – put in four fabulous laps to defeat Newcastle’s top man Ludvig Lindgren in Heat 4.

The Scorpions didn’t look back from that, and with the score at 49-25 after 12 races, all three points were in the bag, before a late rally from the Diamonds to bring some respectability to the scoreline.

Pijper scored a season’s best of paid 17 (15+2), only beaten by Lindgren in Heat 15, while Wilkinson (10+2) and Alex Davies (9) both also had fine evenings, with Wilkinson unbeaten by an opponent until Heat 13.

Holub (8+2) scored paid double figures in his very first home meeting, which bodes extremely well for the future, with reserves Nike Lunna (6+1) and guest Josh Bates (6) completing a fine all-around performance by the Scorpions. Of particular note was the brilliant ride to Bates to swoop around tactical ride Lindgren in Heat 11.

Scorpions’ skipper Theo Pijper, who recently became a father again, said: “The track really suited me, and I had a really good night.

“I had a good feeling after the match at Sheffield. In the last couple of rides there, I made some progress. At Scunthorpe, I made a couple of changes to the bike, and it was running perfectly.

“Everyone was scoring good points, even our new guy, Zdenek (Holub). Given a couple more meetings, he’ll be really dialled into the place.

“It was a shame I missed out on the maximum in the last race, but it was good to score paid 17 points. A couple of weeks ago, we had a new addition to the family. Bonnie Dee was born on July 21. I now have two boys and a baby girl to support, so I have to score good points! It’s happy days at the moment!”

FLUIDAIR POWER SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS SUPPORTED BY HENDERSON INSURANCE 54: Zdenek Holub 8+2 (6), Alex Davies 9 (5), Theo Pijper 15+2 (6), Carl Wilkinson 10+2 (5), Ryan Douglas R/R, Josh Bates 6 (4), Nike Lunna 6+1 (4).

NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS 38: Steve Worrall 7+2 (6), Lewis Kerr R/R, Richard Hall 3 (5), Anton Rosen 4 (5), Ludvig Lindgren 16 (6) (incl. 4-point tactical ride), Simon Nielsen 1+1 (3), Tero Aarnio 7 (5).

PHOTO: New signing Zdenek Holub leads Ludvig Lindgren in Heat 4, to register his first-ever win around the Eddie Wright Raceway.