Scunthorpe Scorpions vs Newcastle Diamonds preview
HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions are involved in two SGB Championship meetings in two days, travelling south to Suffolk tomorrow (Thursday) to face the Ipswich Witches, before hosting Newcastle Diamonds in the big clash at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday evening (7.30pm).
Scorpions have received the boost that Tero Aarnio should be fit to resume racing. It was initially feared that the Finn had broken his thumb during last Sunday’s 39-50 home defeat to Redcar.
But Aarnio revealed on his twitter account that, after a hospital check-up, no bone damage had been found.
Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey has pinpointed Friday’s clash with the Diamonds as a meeting where Scorpions can get back on the track, after the home reverse to Redcar.
“We’d won the last couple of home matches before last Sunday, so the loss to Redcar brought us crashing down to earth with a huge bump”, he admits.
“It would be easy to blame the defeat on some very debatable refereeing decisions, and there’s no doubt that they had a major impact on the momentum of the meeting.
“But we can’t solely blame the referee for that defeat. We also have to look at our performance, individually and as a team, to see what we did wrong and where we can get better.”
“We can’t reach the play-offs, we all know that, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to continue to battle. The aim going into each meeting is to win it and if we lose one, then we forget about it, move onto the next one and try and win that.
“The Redcar meeting is now just a memory and now we’re fully focused on beating Newcastle.”
Diamonds will be without Robert Lambert and Steve Worrall, who are currently preparing for the World Cup Final in Poland on Saturday.
Godfrey adds: “We wish Robert and Steve and their Great British team-mates the very best in the World Cup Final. All four of the British riders in final compete in the SGB Championship, and that shows the strength of this league.
“I think everyone knows Steve Worrall started his professional career at Scunthorpe. What’s less known is that we were also the first club to give Craig Cook a chance in the National League – we gave him an outing with the Saints in 2008.
“In addition, Robert Lambert used to practice here all the time. His dad used to book the track mid-week, and Robert did lap-after-lap.
“I was delighted to see our British lads qualify directly for the final, and good luck to them in that meeting.
“Diamonds have got two very capable guests in Richie Worrall and Kyle Howarth on Friday, and I’m expecting a hard-fought meeting. It’ll be tough, but we can do it.”
Admission prices for Friday:
Adult: £15.00
Student/OAP: £13.00
Child (10 – 17): £5.00
Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult)
Family Ticket £35 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17)
Match Programme: £1.00
Expected teams for Friday:
Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Lewis Kerr, 2. Tero Aarnio, 3. Josh Auty (pictured), 4. Ryan Douglas, 5. Michael Palm Toft (captain), 6. Carl Wilkinson, 7. Josh Bailey.
Newcastle Diamonds: 1. Richie Worrall (guest), 2. Ashley Morris, 3. Lewis Rose, 4. Ludvig Lindgren, 5. Kyle Howarth (guest), 6. Ben Hopwood, 7. Alfie Bowtell.
