Scorpions look to keep it close

ELLIE ROSE TRAVEL Scunthorpe Scorpions want to keep the scores as close as possible in the first leg of their first round MAXiCab Knockout Cup tie at Poole’s Wimborne Road in Dorset tonight (Wednesday, 7.30pm).

The second leg takes place at Scunthorpe’s Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday, and the aggregate winners will progress to the quarter-finals to face Oxford.

Scunthorpe go into the meeting tonight with one psychological advantage – as the last team to defeat Poole Pirates in the competition. The two clubs have won the competition between them every year since 2021 – with Scunthorpe defeating Poole Pirates in a memorable 2023 final and Pirates winning in the other four seasons.

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “Poole have dominated speedway at Cab Direct Championship level since 2021.

“We are going to have to emulate the sort of performance our team came up with in the 2023 final if we are to overcome the Pirates on aggregate.

“We clearly we need to keep the scoreline as close as possible at Poole tonight if we are going to be in with a chance of knocking the Pirates out at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday evening.”

For those who cannot make it to Poole, Pirates are live streaming the meeting for £13.99 at: https://livestream.poole-speedway.com/

Expected teams for tonight (Wednesday):

Poole Pirates: 1. Richard Lawson, 2. Kyle Newman, 3. Lewis Kerr, 4. Fraser Bowes, 5. Zach Cook (C), 6. William Cairns, 7. Cooper Rushen.

Ellie Rose Travel Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Pickering (C), 2. Nathan Ablitt, 3. Luke Harrison, 4. Connor Mountain, 5. Michael Palm Toft, 6. Simon Lambert, 7. Ryan Ingram.

* AS noted above, Ellie Rose Travel Scunthorpe Scorpions are next in action at Scunthorpe’s Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday (April 10) at 7.30pm, when they entertain defending champions Poole Pirates in the MAXiCab Knockout Cup.

Photo Credits: Ian Rispin

Report by: Rob Peasley