Scorpions pull back for a draw

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 45 BERWICK BANDITS 45 (CHAMPIONSHIP)

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions recovered from a disastrous start to grab a 45-45 draw against Berwick Bandits at the Eddie Wright Raceway last night (Friday).

Scunthorpe trailed 4-14 after just three races and were still 20-28 down after Heat 8, against a Berwick side for whom reserves Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen and Theo Pijper excelled.

Scorpions took back-to-back 5-1s from Jake Allen and Jason Garrity in Heat 9, and then Steve Worrall and Stefan Nielsen – in his first meeting back after missing three months with a broken leg – in Heat 10, to level the scores.

Berwick edged back in front, before Worrall and Josh Auty slammed in a 5-1 in Heat 13 to level matters once more.

Allen won Heat 14, to leave the score at 42-42 entering the final race. Auty won the race – to complete a superb paid maximum on his return from an ankle injury – but Worrall finished last, as it finished all square.

Auty (14+1), Allen (11+1) and Worrall (9) were the leading lights for Scorpions, while Berwick’s reserves outscored their Scunthorpe counterparts by 22 points to 2.

Speaking post-meeting, Scorpions’ team manager Dave Peet said: “It’s a disappointing result for us. We did pull back for a draw, but we wanted a win.

“Things just didn’t go our way. Steve Worrall thought he saw the chequered flag in Heat 1 and pulled up from second place a lap early, and then the referee kept on the yellow lights in Heat 3, and Jake Allen mistook them for the red lights and stopped.

“It all added up and helped cost us a win. We could have still won it in the final race, but although Josh Auty completed a brilliant paid maximum, Steve tried riding the line that had worked so well for him in Heat 13 and it didn’t work the second time.

“For Stefan Nielsen, it was almost like he’s having to start afresh after missing three months. He didn’t have the right set-up for his first ride, and then he was quite unlucky with an exclusion in his third ride, when he laid his bike down after Gino (Manzares) lifted.

“But Stefan finished his night finished on a positive, taking a 5-1 with Steve, and we know it won’t be long before he’s flying around Scunthorpe again.

“Fair play to Berwick, because they came here to do a job, rode really well and deserved to leave with the two league points that they picked up.”

Peet concedes that Scunthorpe’s chances of a top four place are all but over, as it would require a mathematical miracle. The club have reached two semi-finals in the Knockout Cup and Championship Shield.

He admitted: “We know we’re not going to reach the play-offs in the league. It won’t affect our approach to our final four league matches – we still want to win them.

“We’ve now got our own seven riders back, and our job is now to get all of those seven riders firing, including the reserves who are struggling a bit.

“We know we need to be at our best for the two forthcoming semi-finals, and we’ve got several weeks to prepare for them, by getting some positive results from our league meetings.”

HENDERSON INSURANCE SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 45
1. Steve Worrall 0 3 3 3 0 (9)
2. Stefan Nielsen 1 0 FX 2* (3+1)
3. Jason Garrity 2 1 2* 1 (6+1)
4. Jake Allen 0 3 2* 3 3 (11+1)
5. Josh Auty 3 3 3 2* 3 (14+1)
6. Danny Phillips 1 0 0 (1)
7. Gino Manzares 0 0 1 0 (1)

BERWICK BANDITS 45
1. Kevin Doolan 2* 2 1* 0 (5+2)
2. Aaron Summers 3 0 3 2 2 (10)
3. Dany Gappmaier 1 0 0 (1)
4. Jye Etheridge TX 1 1 1* (3+1)
5. David Howe 1* 2 0 1 (4+1)
6. Theo Pijper 3 3 1* 1 2* (10+2)
7. Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 2* 2 2* 3 2 1* (12+3)

1: Summers, Doolan, Nielsen, Worrall, 58.72 (1-5) (1-5).
2: Pijper, Jakobsen, Phillips, Manzares, 59.31 (1-5) (2-10).
3: (Re-run) Pijper, Garrity, Gappmaier, Allen, Etheridge (excluded, tape touching), 58.78 (2-4) (4-14).
4: Auty, Jakobsen, Howe, Manzares, 58.84 (3-3) (7-17).
5: Allen, Doolan, Garrity, Summers, 58.72 (4-2) (11-19).
6: Worrall, Howe, Pijper, Nielsen, 58.72 (3-3) (14-22).
7: Auty, ALLEN (T/S), Etheridge, Gappmaier, 58.57 (5-1) (19-23).
8: (Re-run) Summers, Jakobsen, Manzares, Nielsen (fell, excluded), 59.06 (1-5) (20-28).
9: Allen, Garrity, Pijper, Howe, 59.22 (5-1) (25-29).
10: Worrall, Nielsen, Etheridge, Gappmaier, 59.41 (5-1) (30-30).
11: Auty, Summers, Doolan, Phillips, 58.69 (3-3) (33-33).
12: Jakobsen, Pijper, Garrity, Manzares, 59.69 (1-5) (34-38).
13: Worrall, Auty, Howe, Doolan, 58.69 (5-1) (39-39).
14: Allen, Jakobsen, Etheridge, Phillips, 59.18 (3-3) (42-42).
15: Auty, Summers, Jakobsen, Worrall, 58.96 (3-3) (45-45).