Good effort from Scorpions in final meeting
PETERBOROUGH PANTHERS 54 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 36 (PREMIER LEAGUE)
FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, completed their 2015 fixtures with a 36-54 loss at Peterborough this afternoon (Sunday).
The Scorpions kept it close for the majority of the meeting, only to see the hosts pull away in the final stages.
Guest David Bellego (winner of Heat 1), plus reserves Alex Davies and Nike Lunna (who took a 5-1 from Heat 2) started at a great pace, as the Scorpions moved 8-4 ahead after two races. The scoreline was still close at 16-14 to the Panthers after five heats and then 26-22 after eight races.
The Scorpions were just eight points behind with three races to go, but then the Panthers finished with a flourish with a 4-2 and two 5-1s.
Scunthorpe’s reserve pair scored 20 out of the team’s 36 points, with Davies on 12+1 and Lunna on 8+2. Bellego contributed 10, while a second guest from Sheffield, Andre Compton, scored 5+1. For the Panthers, Ben Barker scored a paid maximum.
Scorpions’ team manager Dave Peet said: “It was far from a one-sided meeting, and we rode better than the final scoreline suggests. The Panthers are a good side, but we showed plenty of fighting spirit and made them work for their win.
“Both Leigh (Lanham) and Wilko (Carl Wilkinson) had rare off days, so that made it tough, because it meant plenty of rides for reserves Alex Davies and Nike Lunna. On a hot afternoon, we had to space out their rides to avoid them taking two on the trot whenever possible. As it was, Nike blew his bike in his final outing.
“Alex and Nike (pictured from the recent meeting at the EWR vs Sheffield) both rode really well; our strength at reserve has been a major plus in the closing stages of the season. And thanks to guests David Bellego and Andre Compton for their contribution.
“Overall, the season has been frustrating in places. It’s been one thing after another with injury after injury. Quite often, the injuries happened in our meetings and that meant we lost meetings that we would otherwise have won, and kept us at the bottom of the league for longer than we deserved to be.
“But the positive is how we finished the season, especially with the five wins in our last five home matches. We kept on fighting throughout the season and kept a good team spirit, no matter what happened, and in that regard, I’m proud, because we never gave up.”
With Rye House Rockets also suffering a loss on Sunday afternoon (at Glasgow), it’s highly likely the Scorpions will finish the season in 11th place in Premier League, definitely ahead of Redcar and probably the Rockets too.
PETERBOROUGH PANTHERS 54
1. Rohan Tungate (Guest) 2 3 3 1 (9)
2. Michael Palm Toft 1* 1 2 1 (5+1)
3. Anders Thomsen 3 2 3 3 2* (13+1)
4. Simon Lambert 1 1* 1 2* (5+2)
5. Ben Barker 2* 3 3 3 3 (14+1)
6. Rafal Konopka 0 0 0 (0)
7. Emil Grondal 1 3 1* 0 3 (8+1)
FLUIDAIR POWER SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS SUPPORTED BY HENDERSON INSURANCE 36
1. Zdenek Holub R/R
2. David Bellego (Guest) 3 3 0 2 2 0 (10)
3. Andre Compton (Guest) 2 0 1* 0 2 (5+1)
4. Carl Wilkinson 0 0 1 (1)
5. Leigh Lanham 0 0 0 (0)
6. Alex Davies 3 2 3 2 1* 1 (12+1)
7. Nike Lunna 2* 1 2 2 1* 0 0 (8+2)
1: Bellego, Tungate, Toft, Wilkinson, 58.9 (3-3) (3-3).
2: Davies, Lunna, Grondal, Konopka, 61.3 (1-5) (4-8).
3: Thomsen, Compton, Lambert, Wilkinson, 60.2 (4-2) (8-10).
4: Grondal, Barker, Lunna, Lanham, 60.2 (5-1) (13-11).
5: Bellego, Thomsen, Lambert, Compton, 59.6 (3-3) (16-14).
6: (Re-run) Tungate, Davies, Toft, Lanham, 61.0 (4-2) (20-16).
7: (Re-run) Barker, Lunna, Compton, Konopka (fell, remounted), 60.7 (3-3) (23-19).
8: Davies, Toft, Grondal, Bellego, 60.5 (3-3) (26-22).
9: Thomsen, Lunna, Lambert, Lanham, 61.6 (4-2) (30-24).
10: Tungate, Davies, Toft, Compton, 61.8 (4-2) (34-26).
11: Barker, Bellego, Lunna, Konopka, 61.6 (3-3) (37-29)
12: Thomsen, Compton, Davies, Grondal, 62.2 (3-3) (40-32).
13: Barker, Bellego, Tungate, Lunna, 61.6 (4-2) (44-34).
14: Grondal, Lambert, Wilkinson, Lunna, 62.7 (5-1) (49-35).
15: Barker, Thomsen, Davies, Bellego, 62.1 (5-1) (54-36).
