Ben sparkles, but Scunny lose out to Diamonds

NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS 54 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 36 (CHAMPIONSHIP)

HEB Scunthorpe Scorpions came home from Tyneside empty-handed, after suffering a 36-54 loss to Newcastle Diamonds at Brough Park last night (Sunday).

The defeat came despite an excellent 17-point tally from recent signing Ben Barker. The Cornishman took seven rides, with three wins and four second places, and ruined the maximum of Newcastle No 1 Steve Worrall by defeating him in the final race.

Diamonds quickly took charge of the meeting, and any chance of Scorpions securing a losing bonus point had disappeared with a couple of heats remaining.

Speaking post-meeting, Scorpions’ team manager Dave Peet said: “Ben Barker was excellent, and he ruined the maximum hopes of one or two of the Newcastle riders.

“We knew Ben be would a decent signing, and he happily accepted taking the full complement of seven rides. He seems capable of going to each track, whatever the shape or size, and scoring around there.

“But otherwise we simply were not getting out of the starts. Around a track like Newcastle, you simply cannot do that, because you have to hit the front early on and then control the race.

“We wanted more from this meeting, but we’ll regroup for our visit to Redcar on Friday.”

NEWCASTLE 54: Matthew Wethers 15, Steve Worrall 13+1, Thomas Jorgensen 9+2, Max Clegg 8+1, Jacob Bukhave 7, Danny Phillips 2+1, Lasse Bjerre r/r.
SCUNTHORPE 36: Ben Barker 17, Josh Auty 6, Simon Lambert 5+1, Danny Ayres 5, Jake Allen 2+1, Ryan Kinsley 1+1, Stefan Nielsen r/r.

* HEB Scunthorpe Scorpions are back in action at Redcar on Friday. The next Scorpions’ action at the Eddie Wright Raceway is a week on Friday (July 19th at 7.30pm), with the visit of league leaders Leicester Lions in what is sure to be a pulsating encounter.