Grandstand finish from Scorpions

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 53 PETERBOROUGH PANTHERS 37 (SGB CHAMPIONSHIP)

BOTH Josh Auty and Ryan Douglas were on top form, as Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions registered a 53-37 victory over Peterborough Panthers at the Eddie Wright Raceway yesterday (Sunday).

The meeting was nip-and-tuck for the opening 11 races, with no more than two points separating the two teams, but then Scorpions powered away with a 4-2 and three 5-1s in the final four races.

Auty started his meeting with a fine pass of Ulrich Ostergaard in Heat 4, and won five out of his six races, dropping his only point to Thomas Jorgensen in Heat 11, after moving from fourth to second in that race, but running out of time to challenge for the lead.

Douglas won a ding-dong battle with Jorgensen in Heat 1, and would have scored a paid maximum but for a case of mistaken identity. Douglas thought it was team-mate Lewis Kerr on the outside of him in Heat 3, but in fact it was Peterborough’s Bradley Wilson-Dean, and Douglas was pipped on the line after a last bend surge from BWD.

While Auty and Douglas were superb all meeting long, Scorpions were held back by some machinery problems early on.

The tide was turned in the second half of the meeting, when some of the other Scorpions also found form. Kerr was unbeaten in his final three outings, while both Michael Palm Toft and Tero Aarnio were involved in the sequence of 5-1s at the conclusion of the meeting.

Meanwhile, Josh Bailey is becoming a specialist at winning Heat 2 at the EWR, after an opening lap burst around Simon Lambert.

Ryan Douglas said: “The whole team dug in and rode really well.

“I think it’s slowly turning around for me. I had a guest booking at Sheffield the other day for Newcastle and top scored, and that gave me a lot of confidence.

“I took that to Berwick and went OK, and then came here and had one of my best meetings here this year. Hopefully now I can just keep building.

“In Heat 3, I thought it was Lewi (Lewis Kerr) on the outside of me, so that’s why I stuck to the inside. I saw it was Bradley Wilson-Dean when he came past on the line, but it was too late to do anything. I guess I was a bit disappointed about that, because it cost me a paid maximum.

“It’s getting towards the end of the season, and I want to finish the season well. I hope the team can win a few meetings in the next few weeks and make the fans happy.”

Team manager Dave Peet said: “We made hard work of it to begin with, but we kept plugging away, and it all came good at the end and we eventually ended up with the right result.

“Josh Auty and Ryan Douglas were on it from the start of the meeting, and then some of the other boys came to the party as well, for example Lewis Kerr went really well in his last three outings.

“Peterborough were not at full strength today, but you can only beat what’s put in front of you. It was a good victory and it gives our lads a bit of confidence heading into a busy week.”

HENDERSON INSURANCE SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 53
1. Michael Palm Toft 1 1 2 2* (6+1)
2. Jake Allen R/R
3. Lewis Kerr R 1 3 3 2* (9+1)
4. Ryan Douglas 3 2 3 2* 3 (13+1)
5. Josh Auty 3 3 3 2 3 3 (17)
6. Tero Aarnio R 0 1* 1* 1 2* (5+3)
7. Josh Bailey 3 R 0 0 (3)

PETERBOROUGH PANTHERS 37
1. Thomas Jorgensen (Guest) 2 2 3 0 (7)
2. Connor Coles (Guest) 0 0 0 (0)
3. Paul Starke 1 2 3 2 0 (8)
4. Bradley Wilson-Dean 3 1* 0 FX (4+1)
5. Ulrich Ostergaard 2 3 1 1 1 (8)
6. Simon Lambert 2 2* 2 0 0 (6+1)
7. Tom Bacon 1* 1* 1* 1 (4+3)

1: Douglas, Jorgensen, Palm Toft, Coles, 56.50 (4-2) (4-2).
2: Bailey, Lambert, Bacon, Aarnio (ret), 56.75 (3-3) (7-5).
3: Wilson-Dean, Douglas, Starke, Kerr (ret), 57.06 (2-4) (9-9).
4: Auty, Ostergaard, Bacon, Bailey (ret), 56.50 (3-3) (12-12).
5: Douglas, Jorgensen, Kerr, Coles, 56.81 (4-2) (16-14).
6: Ostergaard, Lambert, Palm Toft, Bailey, 57.87 (1-5) (17-19).
7: Auty, Starke, Wilson-Dean, Aarnio 3-3, 56.67 (3-3) (20-22).
8: Auty, Lambert, Bacon, Bailey, 57.57 (3-3) (23-25).
9: Kerr, Douglas, Ostergaard, Lambert, 57.69 (4-2) (28-26).
10: Starke, Palm Toft, Aarnio, Wilson-Dean, 57.38 (3-3) (31-29).
11: Jorgensen, Auty, Aarnio, Coles, 57.25 (3-3) (34-32).
12: Kerr, Starke, Aarnio, Lambert, 57.44 (4-2) (38-34).
13: Auty, Palm Toft, Ostergaard, Jorgensen, 57.22 (5-1) (41-37).
14 (Re-run) Douglas, Aarnio, Bacon, Wilson-Dean (fell, excluded), 58.81 (5-1) (48-36).
15: Auty, Kerr, Ostergaard, Starke, 58.56 (5-1) (53-37).

* HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions are next in action when they travel to local rivals (and current league leaders) Sheffield Tigers on Thursday evening.

PHOTO: Josh Auty leads Heat 7.