Battling Bears grab a deserved point!
To coin a popular speedway phrase, tonight’s action was “Speedway out of the top drawer” at Scunthorpe as the Bears fell to a 46-44 defeat against a strong Scorpions side. Redcar’s star man was the former Scorpion Jake Allen who scored paid 15 from his 6 outings.
The early stages of the meeting did not go to plan for Redcar as the Scorpions surged into a 22-14 lead after 6 races and the Bears were in trouble. The 7th heat of the evening saw the Redcar resurgence begin as Charles Wright as the tactical substitute joined Jake Allen for a 5-1 to bring Redcar within 6 of the play-off chasers. Heat 8 was a fantastic race as James Sarjeant emerged from bend 2 with the lead whilst Anders Rowe passed Josh MacDonald and the Bears were on a heat advantage only for Simon Lambert to pass Sarjeant which meant we had a shared heat at the Raceway. Redcar made further inroads to the Scunthorpe lead as Michael Palm-Toft passed Thomas Jorgensen and Anders Rowe was in a comfortable third until he lifted violently on the back straight of lap 3 but he held off the pressure of Theo Pijper to preserve his 3rd place. Scunthorpe’s lead now sat at 2 but the Scorpions returned the favour with a 4-2 of their own as Adam Ellis continued his perfect evening so far with another win. The Bears hit back with their own blow with their 2nd 4-2 in 3 races as Charles Wright won and James Sarjeant finished third to bring the Bears within 2 again.
Heat 13 was a fabulous race as Scunthorpe gated on a 5-1 until Palm-Toft split the Scorpions pair whilst Charles Wright looked like he had got the better of Thomas Jorgensen for third until he clipped the fence on the last bend which gave the Scorpions a valuable 4-2. Heat 14 was a vintage race as Jake Allen and Anders Rowe looked like they had gated to bring Redcar level until Anders Rowe lost speed and both Scorpions took advantage for a 3-3 which left Redcar needing a 5-1 in heat 15 for a draw. The last heat of an exciting evening saw Adam Ellis gate with the Bears duo of Allen and Palm-Toft behind until Palm-Toft found some drive to pass Ellis whilst Allen was all over the back wheel of Adam Ellis until the last bend until Allen locked up which secured the win for the Scorpions.
Redcar’s Jake Allen was quite happy with his evening overall, “I enjoyed my return to my old club, I was happy with my performance and I think I rode very well but I was disappointed not to come out on top in heat 15 but you can’t win them all!”
It is important to note that Redcar’s travelling support was absolutely immense with over 150 Bears fans in attendance and they made for a fantastic atmosphere on bend 1.
Scunthorpe = 46
1. Adam Ellis = 13+1
2. Simon Lambert = 10
3. Theo Pijper = 5+2
4. R/R = 6+1)
5. Thomas Jorgensen = 5+1
6. Jordan Palin = 10+1
7. Josh MacDonald = 3
Redcar = 44
1. Charles Wright = 10
2. James Sarjeant = 5+1
3. Jake Allen = 14+1
4. R/R = 7
5. Michael Palm Toft = 12
6. Anders Rowe = 3+1
7. Jordan Jenkins = 0