Clash of the champions

THE 2014 Premier League gets underway at Scunthorpe’s Eddie Wright Raceway this afternoon (Sunday, 3pm). It’s the first of 182 regular meetings to determine which six teams will contest the championship play-offs.

Appropriately, the competition will be launched this afternoon with a clash between the 2012 champions, the FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, against their successors and current champions, the Somerset Rebels.

The last two meetings between the two teams at the Eddie Wright Raceway have both been notable. In October 2012, the Scorpions won the Premier League play-off final in nail-biting fashion by a single point on aggregate, after a humdinger of a second leg at Scunthorpe (the victorious team pictured above).

Last May, saw Somerset pick up a comfortable 56-37 away win at Scunthorpe; a sign they were the beat to team in 2013.

After a poor start to their 2014 League Cup campaign, Scunthorpe bounced back with a stunning 53-41 win at local rivals Sheffield on Thursday night.

“We showed what we are capable of, at Sheffield”, says Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey. “We need to repeat that today

“We really get our Premier League campaign off to a home win – we don’t want to be playing catch up.

“This is a big meeting for us. We’re bringing in Redcar’s Aaron Summers as the guest for the injured Anders Mellgren – the very best guest we could find.

“It’s going to be a cracker. We need the Scorpions’ fans to be vocal to help cheer the team onto victory.”

Somerset are led by Australian Nick Morris, an ex-Scorpion who played a vital part in the Scunthorpe’s 2012 triumph.

In the second half, the Scunthorpe Stags face the reigning National League champions, the power-packed Cradley Heathens.

Admission prices for today:

Adult: £17.00
Student/OAP: £15.00
Child (10 – 17): £5.00
Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult)
Family Ticket £39 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17)
Match Programme: £1.00

Expected teams for today:

FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Aaron Summers (guest), 2. David Howe, 3. Thomas Jørgensen, 4. Ashley Birks, 5. Josh Auty, 6. Matt Williamson, 7. Ryan Douglas.

Somerset Rebels: 1. Nick Morris, 2. Todd Kurtz, 3. Brady Kurtz , 4. Pontus Aspgren, 5. Oliver Allen, 6. Charles Wright, 7. Paul Starke.

Scunthorpe Stags: 1. Steve Jones, 2. Ryan MacDonald. 3. Sam Woods, 4. Adam Kirby, 5. R/R for Arron Mogridge, 6. Sam Chapman, 7. Liam Sanderson.

Cradley Heathens: 1. Paul Starke, 2. Nathan Greaves, 3. Tom Perry, 4. Max Clegg, 5. Steve Worrall, 6. Matt Williamson, 7. Danny Phillips.