Scunthorpe too strong for resilient Redcar
The Redcar “Agilia” Bears fell just short as they were defeated 47-43 by Scunthorpe at the Eddie Wright Raceway. Ryan Douglas top scored with 14 for the hosts whilst Charles Wright hit 11 for the Bears.
Heat 1 saw Ryan Douglas gate with both Bears sat in the minor places until Simon Lambert passed Adam Roynon on the penultimate lap to give the Scorpions their first heat advantage. The second race saw Scunthorpe surge into a 6 point lead as Jordan Palin and their impressive guest, Connor Coles combined for a home 5-1.
The impressive Bears engine room immediately hit back with a 5-1 of their own as Erik Riss took a comfortable win whilst Kasper Andersen rode intelligently to hold off Justin Sedgemen. 5-1’s were the order of the day as Scunthorpe hit another maximum heat advantage in the second staging of heat 4. The original staging saw Lewis Kerr fall whilst in a promising position and the Redcar star was excluded from the re-run. The aforementioned re-run saw Jake Allen combine with Palin for a comfortable 5-1.
Charles Wright took his first win of the evening with a heat 5 success but despite a strong gate from Adam Roynon, he was passed by both Scorpions who kept their lead at 6. Heat 7 saw a classic battle between Douglas and Kerr which was ultimately won by the Australian with a smart inside move and with Lambert in third, Scunthorpe extended their lead to 8.
Andersen impressively won heat 7 despite being stalked by Jake Allen and with Riss in third, Redcar were again within 6. Scunthorpe hit a massive blow to Redcar’s hopes as they hit a heat 8 5-1 as Palin cleverly held off Roynon to send Scunthorpe 10 ahead. Jade Mudgway played his tactical substitute in the shape of Wright perfectly with the Bears skipper taking the win. Wright was joined by an impressive Kerr who picked off both Scorpions on successive laps to again bring Redcar within 6.
Heat 10 was shared with Redcar packing the minor places whilst heat 11 provided the same result despite some brilliant racing. Connor Coles rode brilliantly to hold off Adam Roynon whilst Jake Allen almost got the better of Charles Wright on the line but Wright did enough to take the win.
Heat 12’s original staging saw Palin take a nasty tumble on the back straight of the opening lap which left 3 riders in the re-run. Jason Edwards made the gate and he was helped by his partner Erik Riss who team rode to ensure a 5-1 which brought the Bears within 2 of the Scorpions.
Another fantastic race in heat 13 saw the Scorpions gate on a 5-1 until Kerr built up his speed to pass both Scorpions to keep Redcar within 2. Scunthorpe’s guest pairing of Sedgemen and Coles looked to have won the meeting for the hosts as they gated on a 5-1 until Edwards managed to pass Coles on lap 3 to send the meeting into a last heat decider.
Redcar’s pairing of Riss and Kerr knew only a 5-1 would do to avoid defeat but they were thwarted by the impressive Douglas who took the win with riders changing places regularly in a frantic but exciting final race. However, Redcar did manage to come away with a deserved league point as the minor places were filled by Kerr and Riss respectively.
Redcar boss Jade Mudgway was content with the consolation point, “I’m relatively happy with a point. The boys battled hard and made a comeback.”
Despite being 10 down the Kiwi never feared his side would face a heavy defeat, “I was always confident the boys would fight hard. I know our guys always come on strong later in the meeting so it was just about using our tactical substitute at the right time.”
The former Bears rider was also impressed with the racing on offer at the Raceway, “The racing was really good tonight, there were a number of heats throughout the match that, as a promoter, you would be proud to put on.”
Scunthorpe Scorpions = 47
- Ryan Douglas = 14
- Simon Lambert = 5
- Zaine Kennedy = 2+1
- Justin Sedgmen (G) = 7
- Jake Allen = 8+1
- Connor Coles (G) = 4+2
- Jordan Palin = 7+2
Redcar Bears = 43
- Charles Wright = 11
- Adam Roynon = 1
- Erik Riss = 9+2
- Kasper Andersen = 6+2
- Lewis Kerr = 9+1
- Jason Edwards = 6
- Jordan Jenkins = 1