Scorpions show great character, after Gino blow

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 54 WORKINGTON COMETS 36 (CHAMPIONSHIP)

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions had a night went it all went wrong at the Eddie Wright Raceway last night (Friday) – and yet still emerged with a resounding 54-36 victory over Workington Comets, whose winning run was brought to an abrupt halt.

An otherwise excellent meeting was marred by two nasty pile-ups on the first bend. The first involved Josh Auty and Workington guest Nike Lunna in Heat 3.

Auty missed the re-run with a coccyx injury, but then declared himself fit to resume in the rest of the meeting, and picked up six crucial points, including a race win in Heat 9.

Even worse was the pile-up on the first turn of Heat 7. All riders tried to go into the first corner together, with the result that Lunna (gate 3) and Gino Manzares (gate 4) were left with nowhere to go and hit the air fence at speed in a mangle of men and machinery.

Manzares was taken to hospital with his injuries, which include injuries to his coccyx and leg. Lunna suffered an ankle injury.

Both withdrew from the rest of the meeting and Scorpions were worst hit, as they were left with just one reserve for the rest of the night, the battling Danny Phillips, who efforts deserved far more than a point.

It had been 24-12 to Scorpions at the time of the incident, and within two races, Workington had reduced the deficit from 12 to 6 points at 27-21.

Scorpions looked potentially vulnerable, but then came two key 5-1s from Auty and Jake Allen in Heat 9, and Stefan Nielsen and guest Kyle Howarth in Heat 10. The latter came after a highly committed pass by Howarth on Comets’ Ty Proctor.

That left the score at a far safer 37-23, and Scorpions then completed the job, to send their opponents home pointless.

Nielsen top scored with 11+2, Howarth was an excellent guest with 11+1, while Allen dropped just a point to the opposition with 9+2.

Allen just missed out on a paid maximum in Heat 14. He used clever trackcraft to overtake Proctor for second place, but ran out of time to pass Comets’ star guest reserve Tero Aarnio, who scored freely at the Eddie Wright Raceway for a second week in succession.

Jake Allen said: “It’s never easy when you lose one of your reserves fairly early in the meeting, and my best wishes go to Gino.

“But all the boys stuck together, helped each other and got the job done, so I’m pretty proud about that.”

SCUNTHORPE 54: Stefan Nielsen 11+2, Kyle Howarth 11+1, Jake Allen 9+2, Jason Garrity 9+1, Gino Manzares 7, Josh Auty 6, Danny Phillips 1
WORKINGTON 36: Tero Aarnio 15, Rene Bach 9, Ty Proctor 6+1, Rasmus Jensen 3+1, Nicolai Klindt 2, Nike Lunna 1, Kyle Bickley 0

PHOTO: Gino Manzares on his way to winning Heat 2.