Scorpions out of luck

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 44 LAKESIDE HAMMERS 45 (CHAMPIONSHIP)

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions suffered the agony of a one-point home defeat, as visitors Lakeside Hammers took a hard-fought 45-44 victory at the Eddie Wright Raceway last night (Friday).

It all came down to a dramatic last race, with Jake Allen and Jason Garrity pitted against Nick Morris and Richard Lawson and Hammers one point ahead at 42-41.

Morris was the early leader, but came under severe pressure from Allen. As Allen cut to the inside on the pits bend, Morris drifted wide, dropped to the rear and then took a tumble into the fence, with the race stopped and Morris excluded.

Scunthorpe were on a clear 5-1 at the time, and there is a new rule in 2018, which allows the referee to use his discretion to place the team-mate of the excluded rider off a 15-metre handicap in the re-run.

Scorpions twice had this rule used against them at Glasgow, but last night, the referee allowed Lawson to start from the tapes.

Sure enough, despite Scorpions making a slightly better start, Lawson moved through from a superbly-timed inside move on the second bend. Garrity tried hard to overhaul him, but Lawson held on to secure a 45-44 victory for Lakeside, as Scorpions lost at home for a second successive week.

It came at the conclusion of a meeting which contained some excellent racing, but where the luck seemed firmly set against the Scorpions.

Scorpions also suffered a rare 0-5 in Heat 4, after both Garrity and Gino Manzares suffered engine failures.

Josh Auty provided much excitement, dropping just one point during the evening, despite having to earn the majority of his points from the back.

Allen top-scored for Scorpions with 13+2, while Garrity contributed 12 points once he sorted his early-meeting woes, and Auty added 9+2.

Speaking post-meeting, Scorpions’ team manager Dave Peet said: “Tonight was a comedy of errors, except it wasn’t very funny. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

“Some of what happened to us was self-inflicted, such as the engine failures. The riders were giving it their all throughout the meeting, but we need to make sure the bikes last four laps.

“Our injuries caught up with us last week, and the same happened this week. Rider replacement scored six points for us, and Stefan Nielsen is always good for double figures around here.

“The wheels came off early in the meeting, and after that it was tough.

“But we stayed in it, and we could have snatched it in Heat 15. We had a clear 5-1 when Nick Morris fell, and I was expecting Richard Lawson to have to go off 15 metres in the re-run, because that’s what happened to us twice up at Glasgow a few weeks ago.

“But, on this occasion, the referee has decided to let Richard Lawson start from the tapes in the re-run, and he’s then gone and won the meeting for Lakeside.

“Fair play to Lakeside, they came here and did an excellent job.”

SCUNTHORPE 44: Jake Allen 13+2, Jason Garrity 12, Josh Auty 9+2, Charles Wright 6+1, Danny Phillips 2+1, Gino Manzares 2, Stefan Nielsen r/r
LAKESIDE 45: Richard Lawson 13+1, Adam Ellis 8+1, Nick Morris 8, Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 6+1, Alfie Bowtell 5+3, Ben Morley 5+1, Kyle Newman r/r

* HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions are involved in the return fixture at Lakeside tonight (Saturday). Ex-Scorpion David Howe comes in as a guest for Scorpions.