Redcar v Scunthorpe preview – Championship Shield – Friday 3rd May – 7:30pm
Redcar Agilia Bears return to action at the Media Prima Arena this Friday night, as they take on the Scunthorpe Scorpions in their final Championship Shield meeting (7:30pm start).
The Bears will be looking for revenge after losing 49-41 at Scunthorpe last week, as well as a disappointing home defeat to Leicester the week before. Bears co-promoter Jade Mudgway admits his side started far too slowly against the Lions:
I feel we were too conservative with our set ups in the first part of the meeting, and after losing Tom in heat one we had an uphill struggle from there. But we battled hard and did all we could to fight back against a very good Leicester side. A home defeat is never good but as long as we recognise our mistakes and learn from them, it puts us in a better position leading in to the league part of our season.
It was a much better performance by the Bears away at Scunthorpe, with the Bears right in the thick of it until the latter stages of the meeting. Mudgway was pleased with the effort of his side on the night:
We fought them hard and took the lead half way through the meeting, but their top end proved a little too much for us with heat 13 and 15 both going the way of Scunthorpe, and ultimately sealing our fate. But I was much more encouraged by the performance of our lads last week, and we have moved in the right direction just in time for our knockout cup and league fixtures.
The Bears are again at full strength, with Tom Bacon suffering no lasting injuries from his fall against Leicester. Scunthorpe are also at full strength and include a number of former Bears riders in their ranks. Jason Garrity and Josh Auty have been donned the Bears racejacket, whilst entertainer Danny Ayres also spent a short while with the Bears a couple of seasons ago. It should prove to be another close and exciting meeting – we hope to see as many of you here as possible!
Redcar: Michael Palm Toft, Tom Bacon, Ben Barker, Jordan Stewart, Charles Wright, Nathan Greaves, Jack Smith
Scunthorpe: Josh Auty, Danny Ayres, Jason Garrity, Stefan Nielsen, Jake Allen, Ryan Kinsley, Josh Bailey
