Mission accomplished at Redcar
REDCAR BEARS 36 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 54 (Championship Shield)
HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions have one foot and four toes in the semi-finals of the Championship Shield, after notching up a devastating 54-36 victory at Redcar last night (Thursday).
The result means that Scorpions will finish top of their group, if they defeat Newcastle at home next Friday (May 11).
Scorpions quickly took control of proceedings at the Media Prima Arena, despite a heavy fall for Stefan Nielsen in Heat 1. A battered and bruised Nielsen continued in the meeting and was later involved in two 5-1s for Scorpions.
A feature was the way that Scorpions featured on all seven of their cylinders, with each of their riders taking the chequered flag at least once.
Guest Ricky Wells proved a fine choice, with a 13+1 haul, while Josh Auty (11+1) continued his great start to the season, with another double figure score, with several of his points scored the hard way.
One of the most encouraging performances came from young Danny Phillips (pictured), who looked competitive all night and finished with a well deserved 5+1.
Scorpions’ team manager Dave Peet said: “It was a terrific away performance and hopefully it will be the first of many this season.
“The lads knew what they had to do, and went out and did it.
“We knew we wanted all four points from the meeting, rather than just three (for a small-margin away win). If we’d have taken just the three, we would have had to really wallop Newcastle at the Eddie Wright Raceway in our final meeting (on May 11), whereas now a win of any size will suffice.
“Danny Phillips is a local Middlesbrough lad, so he’s had quite a few laps of the Redcar track. He really put together a great performance, and his win in Heat 2 helped the whole team believe that it was going to be a good night ahead for us.
“But you can’t really pick out one rider in particular, because they all did their job, including Ricky Wells, who was a really good guest rider, and Josh Auty, who was right in the thick of the action.
“It wasn’t all plain-sailing. Stefan Nielsen got bashed up in Heat 1, and he rode very well later on, considering he was battered and bruised.
“Jason Garrity was also in the wars, when he got knocked off in Heat 9. (Jonas B) Andersen’s foot peg went through his front wheel, and Jason’s bike was wrecked.
“It was fantastic display, and we will be aiming to produce another performance like that when Redcar come back to our place tonight (Friday) in our opening league match.”
REDCAR BEARS 36
1. Ben Barker 1* 2* 2 2* 0 1 (8+3)
2. Tobias Busch 2 3 1 3 0 (9)
3. Jonas B Andersen 0 2 X 3 (5)
4. Mikkel B Andersen 2 0 0 (2)
5. Matej Kus 1 2 0 3 (6)
6. Theo Pijper 2 0 1 2 (5)
7. Jordan Stewart 1* 0 0 0 (1+1)
HENDERSON INSURANCE SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 54
1. Ricky Wells (Guest) 3 3 3 1* 3 (13+1)
2. Stefan Nielsen FX 1 3 2* (6+1)
3. Josh Auty 3 3 1 2 2* (11+1)
4. Jake Allen 1 1 0 3 (5)
5. Jason Garrity 2* 1 3 2 (8+1)
6. Danny Phillips 3 0 1 1* (5+1)
7. Gino Manzares 0 3 2* 1 (6+1)
1: (Re-run) Wells, Busch, Barker, Nielsen (fell, excluded), 54.2 (3-3) (3-3).
2: Phillips, Pijper, Stewart, Manzares, 55.5 (3-3) (6-6).
3: Auty, M Andersen, Allen, J Andersen, 54.8 (2-4) (8-10).
4: Manzares, Garrity, Kus, Stewart, 54.9 (1-5) (9-15).
5: Wells, J Andersen, Nielsen, M Andersen, 54.6 (2-4) (11-19).
6: Busch, Barker, Garrity, Phillips, 55.2 (5-1) (16-20).
7: Auty, Kus, Allen, Pijper, 55.3 (2-4) (18-24).
8: Nielsen, Manzares, Busch, Stewart, 55.1 (1-5) (19-29).
9: (Re-run) Garrity, BARKER (T/S), Phillips, J Andersen (excluded), 55.4 (2-4) (21-33).
10: Busch, Barker, Auty, Allen, 55.9 (5-1) (26-34).
11: Wells, Nielsen, Pijper, Kus, 55.9 (1-5) (27-39).
12: (Re-run) J Andersen, Auty, Phillips, Stewart, 56.4 (3-3) (30-42).
13: Kus, Garrity, Wells, Barker, 56.5 (3-3) (33-45).
14: Allen, Pijper, Manzares, M Andersen, 56.4 (2-4) (35-49).
15: Wells, Auty, Barker, Busch, 56.2 (1-5) (36-54).
* THE two clubs clash again at the Eddie Wright Raceway tonight (Friday, 7.30pm) in a league match, Scorpions’ opening Championship fixture of 2018. Scorpions will utilise rider replacement to cover for injured skipper Steve Worrall.
