Scorpions off the mark in style

SHEFFIELD TIGERS 41 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 53 (LEAGUE CUP)

FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions won their first meeting of the season last night (Thursday) with a tremendous 53-41 triumph at local rivals Sheffield in a League Cup fixture, therefore gaining full revenge for the Tigers’ 48-42 win at the Eddie Wright Raceway on March 30.

The Scorpions were in full control of the meeting from Heat 1, where guest Claus Vissing and the revitalised David Howe took a 5-1 over Simon Stead.

The visitors continued to boss the early stages taking a 21-9 lead after five races, with Ryan Douglas, Ashley Birks and Josh Auty all winning their opening outings.

Auty then thwarted both of the Sheffield tactical rides – Simon Stead in Heat 6 and Leigh Lanham in Heat 9.

Thomas Jorgensen became the fourth Scunthorpe rider to defeat home No 1 Simon Stead in Heat 10.

The Tigers took their only 5-1 of the night in Heat 11, but then came a trio of 4-2 heat advantages to the Scorpions, which not only sealed victory, but also took all four points on offer. In both Heats 12 & 14, the exciting Douglas snatched victory on the line.

Auty ended up as top scorer for the Scorpions on 14 points (his only defeat being a consolation win for Stead in Heat 15), while Douglas scored 10 points.

Speaking after last night’s meeting, team manager Dave Peet said: “That was just a brilliant team performance tonight.

“We’d knew that, collectively, we hadn’t performed as a team in the first three meetings. We’d had a lot of niggly bike problems. We had to get those sorted out, and now we have.

“I do wonder, for future years, whether we need to start off with a couple of challenge matches, because it’s just taken us a few meetings to get going.

“The track conditions weren’t quite right for the first two races, and that affected the Sheffield riders more than ours. The track was fine after that, but Sheffield never really looked like getting it back.

“We were on it from Heat 1. We were relentless. I don’t think I’ve ever seen us gating so well.

“I can’t really pick riders out, because it was a proper team performance. But I was delighted for Josh Auty. He’s had it tough this season, and took a bit of a battering last Sunday. But tonight Josh was just on fire – he was so quick.

“I asked the riders for a decent showing tonight, to set us up nicely for the visit of Somerset to Scunthorpe on Sunday. They more than delivered. I think this will be the perfect springboard, so that we can take this forward, and make sure we get our league campaign off to a win on Sunday.”

SHEFFIELD TIGERS 41
1. Simon Stead 1 4# 2 2 3 (12)
2. Simon Nielsen 0 1* 2 R (3+1)
3. Leigh Lanham 2 1 4# 2 (9)
4. Taylor Poole R 0 1* 0 (1+1)
5. Adam Roynon 2 3 2* 0 1(8+1)
6. Andre Compton 2 0 0 3 2 (7)
7. Josh Bates FX 1* R (1+1)

FLUIDAIR POWER SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 53
1. Claus Vissing (Guest) 3 3 1 1 (8)
2. David Howe 2* 2* 3 0 0 (7+2)
3. Thomas Jorgensen 1 2 3 1 (7)
4. Ashley Birks 3 1* 1 1 (6+1)
5. Josh Auty 3 3 3 3 2 (14)
6. Matt Williamson 1 0 0 (1)
7. Ryan Douglas 3 R 1 3 3 (10)

# = tactical ride

1: (Re-run) Vissing, Howe, Stead, Nielsen, 60.1 (1-5) (1-5).
2: Douglas, Compton, Williamson (fell, remounted), Bates (fell, excluded), no time – awarded (2-4) (3-9).
3: Birks, Lanham, Jorgensen, Poole (ret), 62.6 (2-4) (5-13).
4: Auty, Roynon, Bates, Douglas (ret), 62.6 (3-3) (8-16).
5: Vissing, Howe, Lanham, Poole, 62.7 (1-5) (9-21).
6: Auty, STEAD (TR), Nielsen, Williamson, 62.2 (5-3) (14-24).
7: (Re-run) Roynon, Jorgensen, Birks, Compton, 62.8 (3-3) (17-27).
8: Howe, Nielsen, Douglas, Compton, 63.0 (2-4) (19-31).
9: Auty, LANHAM (TR), Poole, Williamson, 63.6 (5-3) (24-34).
10: Jorgensen, Stead, Birks, Nielsen (ret), 63.0 (2-4) (26-38).
11: Compton, Roynon, Vissing, Howe, 62.5 (5-1) (31-39).
12: Douglas, Lanham, Jorgensen, Bates (ret), 63.1 (2-4) (33-43).
13: Auty, Stead, Vissing, Roynon, 62.4 (2-4) (35-47).
14: Douglas, Compton, Birks, Poole, 63.7 (2-4) (37-51).
15: Stead, Auty, Roynon, Howe, 63.1 (4-2) (41-53).

* Fresh from the excellent win at Sheffield last night, the Scorpions will tackle defending Premier League champions Somerset with renewed confidence at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday (3pm). Aaron Summers is due to guest for Scunthorpe.