ELLIE ROSE TRAVEL Scunthorpe Scorpions showed strength in the face of adversity to pick up a 48-42 win in a pulsating meeting at Redcar last night (Friday) – a result that moved them to second place in the Cab Direct Championship table. Scorpions took victory over Redcar Bears, despite an injury to recent signing Dan Gilkes in Heat 14.

It was a huge turnaround from the BSN Series meeting at the ECCO Arena in March, which Bears won by 58-32.

Scunthorpe are back in action at Workington this evening (Saturday, 6pm) where another victory would move them to the top of the league table.

With the scores deadlocked at 39-39, Gilkes was well placed to make a move on the outside on the opening turn in Heat 14, when he and Jason Edwards brushed against each other  and Gilkes came down. It looked like an innocuous fall into the air fence, but Gilkes went in feet first and it was soon clear he had been hurt. The 23-year-old has recently returned after a year out with a knee injury, and Gilkes went off to the local hospital, which caused a 40-minute delay in proceedings.

With Gilkes unable to take his place in the re-run of Heat 14, 16-year-old Ryan Ingram came into the race in his place. Ingram – fresh from his exploits around Scunthorpe – had experienced a tough night with four last places. Luke Harrison jetted out of the start – something he had also done in the original staging of the race – while Ingram made a stunning cut-back on the second bend to move inside both Edwards and Jody Scott. He then held off Redcar skipper Edwards to ensure the 5-1 and move Scorpions four points clear with only one race to go.

Skipper Josh Pickering made no mistakes in Heat 15 and led all the way ahead of Redcar guest No 1 Danny King, while Michael Palm Toft finished a productive night by winning a battle for third place with former Scorpion Jake Allen.

Earlier, Scorpions had taken the lead with a 5-1 from Pickering and Connor Mountain in Heat 1, only for Redcar to level the scores with a maximum in Heat 2.

Redcar moved four points ahead, but Scunthorpe levelled the scores with a 5-1 from the impressive middle pairing Nathan Ablitt and Luke Harrison in Heat 7, with Harrison overtaking Allen on the third lap.

Redcar again moved ahead – this time by a couple of points – while both Ablitt and Harrison stopped Bears moving further ahead by both overtaking ex-Scorpion Simon Lambert in Heat 10. Scorpions levelled scores with a 4-2 in a thrilling Heat 11, where Pickering showed his class by bursting around Allen with a lap remaining.

Once more, Redcar moved ahead with a 4-2 in Heat 12, before Pickering and Palm Toft yet again levelled the scores with a 4-2 in Heat 13.

Pickering top-scored with 14 points, after another stunning display dropping his only point in Heat 5 when he mounted a last-bend challenge on Edwards and only lost out in a photo finish on the line. Scorpions’ top five were rock solid, with Palm Toft (9), Harrison (8+2), Ablitt (8+1) and Mountain (6+1) all enjoying productive evenings, while Ingram turned the meeting on its head with his Heat 14 heroics.

Scorpions’ team manager David Howe said: “First of all, we hope that Dan is okay and wish him a speedy recovery. He’s been a tremendous signing for us. He was having a tough night, but he looked well placed on the outside when he came down.

“The ride from young Ryan Ingram in the re-run of Heat 14 is what we’re starting to expect from him. On the away tracks, he still tends to still mentally to start with, but once he gets himself in gear, he shows what he’s capable of. There’s still no pressure on him; we’re just happy when it produces a ride like that.

“I think speedway won tonight, because it was a fantastic meeting to watch, but of course, we took a great victory with our skipper Josh Pickering supported so well by the rest of the lads.”

REDCAR 42: Danny King 8+1, Jason Edwards 8, Jake Mulford 7, Jake Allen 6, Jody Scott 5+2, Simon Lambert 5, Ace Pijper 3.
SCUNTHORPE 48: Josh Pickering 14, Michael Palm Toft 9, Luke Harrison 8+2, Nathan Ablitt 8+1, Connor Mountain 6+1, Ryan Ingram 2+1, Dan Gilkes 1.

* ACE Pijper steps in as the guest for Dan Gilkes at Workington tonight (Saturday), where victory would take Scunthorpe to the top of the table. Otherwise Scorpions are unchanged.

* ELLIE ROSE TRAVEL Scunthorpe Scorpions currently have a six-week break in home fixtures, before they host Plymouth Gladiators at Scunthorpe’s Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday, July 3 at 7.30pm.

Photo Credits: Ian Rispin

Report by: Rob Peasley