Scorpions avoid wooden spoon by overcoming Bears

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 51 REDCAR BEARS 39 (PREMIER LEAGUE)

IT’S OFFICIAL… the FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, will not finish the 2015 Premier League with the wooden spoon!

Last night (Friday), the Scorpions scored a 51-39 victory over the Redcar Bears at the Eddie Wright Raceway – the final PL meeting of the season for Redcar – which ensures the Bears finish the season in last place in the competition.

After occupying last place for most of the year, Scunthorpe have avoided bottom spot with three fixtures remaining (all come in a final flurry of activity next weekend). The Scorpions have won four meetings on the trot, after showing true fighting spirit, despite a number of injuries to key riders.

Scunthorpe actually moved up TWO places last night, after moving past Berwick on race points difference, with the Bandits suffering a heavy defeat at Plymouth. Redcar have finished their fixtures on 19 points, while a trio of teams – Rye House, Scunthorpe and Berwick – are now on 21 points.

Last night’s victory at the EWR was far from straightforward. With No 1 Zdenek Holub ruled out after a heavy fall in the Czech Republic on Thursday night, the Scorpions received a further blow when Nike Lunna was called away by his Finnish Federation for official business in his own country.

Scunthorpe asset Matt Williamson took a last-minute guest booking for Lunna. Williamson only scored one point, but it was a vital one, pegging the previous unbeaten Dimitri Berge to the back in Heat 8.

Berge promised to be a thorn in Scorpions’ side with wins in his opening three rides, as Redcar opened up an early 16-14 lead, and it was still level at 24-24 at the halfway stage.

The Scorpions then pulled clear with five heat advantages between Heats 9 & 14, with Redcar’s Matej Kus bowing out of the meeting with concussion after a first bend incident in Heat 12.

Appropriately enough, it was the top two Scorpions on the night, Carl Wilkinson and Alex Davies, who sealed the win on the night, with a 5-1 in Heat 14.

Wilko dropped just a single point to Kus in Heat 3, before reeling off four victories against his 2014 club, to finish on 13+1, while Davies recovered from finishing on the wrong end of a shock 5-1 to Redcar in Heat 2, to drop just one single further point, to end his night with 13+2.

Theo Pijper and Leigh Lanham also both finished with double figures (both on 10+1). New signing Lanham has scored double figures in both his appearances for the Scorpions…. Somerset may be kicking themselves for letting him go!

17-year-old Dane Andreas Lyager, who will miss the final home meeting of the season against Plymouth next week, scored 4 hard-fought points. Full of enthusiasm and effort, he pulled a full locker on the first bend of Heat 12 and was a little fortunate to escape exclusion from the incident that accounted for Kus.

Carl Wilkinson – already a club legend after a previous spell at the EWR between 2008 and 2011 – has been a real plus this season, a solid scorer who has added to his starting average. Wilko said: “A night like this has been a long time coming for me. I’ve had some good nights, but not any really, really good nights for a while, where I’ve been putting together win after win.

“The team all chipped in against Redcar in this meeting. We were up against it early on, and it looked like the combined absence of Zdenek (Holub) and Nike (Lunna) might prove too much. But we turned it around and made sure we took the meeting.

“It’s been a torrid year for Scunthorpe Speedway and its fans, with injury after injury. But it’s nice to say: ‘You know what, we’ve had a hard year as a club, but we’ve still managed to stay away from that wooden spoon.’

“If we hadn’t had the injuries, we’d have been in a totally different place this season, because the team is a pretty decent one.

“We’ve got three meetings left next week and it would be nice to go out on a bit of a high. Every one of us goes into every meeting to do our best, and we’ll continue that next week. Our tails are now up, and I believe we can beat Plymouth around here, and take points away from our visits to Plymouth and Peterborough.

“There’s no reason why we can’t keep on attacking it like it’s the start of the season, and finish strongly.

“Meanwhile, I’m still learning a lot, even at this stage of my career. I’ve taken on a lot of Elite League guest bookings recently, and it’s keeping me really busy… I only had Wednesday off this week! The bikes are starting to show signs of wear and tear, but having plenty of meetings has done me good.

“From what I’ve learnt this season, I can come back even stronger next year, because I know what I need to do to my machinery. Hopefully I can hit the ground running, and kick on that little bit more again.”

A reminder that the final meeting of the season at the Eddie Wright Raceway takes place next Friday (September 11) at 7.30pm against Plymouth.

Promoters Rob and Gail Godfrey and the rest of the Scunthorpe management have done a grand job in steering Scunthorpe away from the wooden spoon this year, despite injuries to key riders, such as Josh Auty, Ryan Douglas, David Howe and Ben Wilson.

Next Friday is one final chance for the public to show how much they want the Scunthorpe Scorpions to continue next season and for future seasons, before Rob & Gail make their decision regarding the club’s future over the winter months. Let’s finish the season on a high!

SCUNTHORPE 51: Alex Davies 13+2, Carl Wilkinson 13+1, Theo Pijper 10+1, Leigh Lanham 10+1, Andreas Lyager 4, Matt Williamson 1+1, Zdenek Holub r/r
REDCAR 39: Dimitri Berge 14, Jonas Andersen 10, Jan Graversen 7+3, Matej Kus 7, Aaron Summers 1, Rafal Konopka 0, Stuart Robson r/r