By Report: Scunthorpe Scorpions secure cup victory over Birmingham
Scunthorpe Scorpions came out on top in the first leg of their Championship Knockout Cup quarter-final against Birmingham Brummies last night.
A 46-44 victory for the North Lincolnshire outfit puts them in pole position to make it through to the semi-finals ahead of their second-leg tie at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday night.
Ryan Douglas had suffered nasty falls on the previous two nights, but he scored an excellent 15-point-maximum at Perry Barr, despite having to borrow a bike from Scorpions’ guest Lee Complin in Heat 5, where Douglas won a ding-dong battle with Stefan Nielsen.
In a see-saw meeting, Scorpions flew into an 18-12 lead after five races, only for Birmingham to move 33-27 ahead of Heat 10.
But Scorpions were not finished. In Heat 13, Douglas took his fourth win of the evening ahead of Nick Morris, while Michael Palm Toft passed Justin Sedgmen for third place, and the 4-2 reduced the deficit to two points.
Jake Allen dealt with a strong challenge from Nielsen on the opening lap of Heat 14 before Nielsen lost control on the fourth bend and had a coming together with Brummies’ teammate Ty Proctor.
With Nielsen excluded, Allen produced some sublime team-riding with Thompson in the re-run to keep Proctor at bay, as Scorpions took a 5-1 and moved 43-41 ahead. The imperious Douglas then clinched victory on the night for Scunthorpe by completing his full house in Heat 15.
Speaking post-meeting, Scorpions’ team manager Dave Peet said: “We’ve set ourselves up very nicely for the second leg at Scunthorpe on Friday.
“Apart from Ryan Douglas, the rest of our lads were struggling a bit out of the starts, and it was quite slick tonight and not so easy to pass, so it made it tricky at times. We were leading, then they were leading, but then we came back at them again in the last five races.
“It was a very good ride by Jake Allen in Heat 14 to shepherd home Joe Thompson and that set us up for the win on the night.
“Ryan was brilliant tonight, even when he wasn’t on his own bike, while Joe had a good meeting from No 7. Everyone scored points tonight and played their part.”
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