Scunthorpe V Berwick - Friday, August 2nd (7.30pm)

[lucifer sam]

DOUBLE DOSE OF ACTION, AS SCORPIONS COMMENCE VITAL MONTH

 

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions are involved in a weekend that promoter Rob Godfrey describes as “do-or-die”, as they start an August which will either make-or-break their Premier League play-off aspirations.

 

The Scorpions entertain the Berwick Bandits at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday evening (7.30pm), before travelling to Leicester’s Beaumont Park on Saturday.

 

All nine of Scunthorpe’s remaining regular Premier League fixtures - including no fewer than six away meetings - take place in a hectic August:

 

Friday, August 2nd Scorpions v Berwick Bandits

Saturday, August 3rd Leicester Lions v Scorpions

Thursday, August 8th Redcar Bears v Scorpions

Sunday, August 11th Workington Comets v Scorpions

Friday, August 16th Scorpions v Plymouth Devils

Thursday, August 22th Sheffield Tigers v Scorpions

Friday, August 23rd Plymouth Devils v Scorpions

Monday, August 26th Scorpions v Leicester Lions

Saturday, August 31st Rye House Rockets v Scorpions

 

The current Premier League table (with the next scheduled Premier League matches take place on Thursday, August 1st) is:

 

M 3W 2W D L 4W 3W D 1L L F A Pts

1 Workington 16 5 1 0 2 2 2 1 1 2 783 681 34

2 Edinburgh 14 6 0 0 2 1 2 2 1 0 698 578 33

3 Redcar 16 5 1 2 1 2 1 0 2 2 733 685 32

4 Newcastle 14 3 0 2 0 2 2 1 3 1 668 590 30

5 Ipswich 13 4 1 0 1 1 1 2 3 0 626 544 28

6 Leicester 16 3 4 0 1 2 1 0 0 5 725 738 28

7 Somerset 13 5 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 640 546 26

8 Berwick 15 5 1 0 3 0 1 0 0 5 685 691 20

9 Scunthorpe 15 2 4 2 1 0 0 1 1 4 676 692 19

10 Plymouth 14 2 1 0 4 0 2 1 1 3 610 655 17

11 Rye House 13 2 1 1 2 0 1 0 2 4 556 607 14

12 Sheffield 12 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 1 5 498 619 7

13 Glasgow 17 0 2 1 4 0 0 0 0 10 641 913 5

 

It’s interesting to look at the current Premier League form guide, which assumes all teams take all three league points from their home meetings (i.e. any dropped home points are counted as points dropped, while any away points scored are counted as points gained). The teams currently stand as:

 

Workington (+10)

Edinburgh (+9)

Redcar (+5)

Newcastle (+15)

Ipswich (+10)

Leicester (+4)

Somerset (+8)

Berwick (-7)

Scunthorpe (-8)

Plymouth (-4)

Rye House (-4)

Sheffield (-11)

Glasgow (-16)

 

At first glance, this makes slightly grim reading for Scunthorpe fans. However, with more away meetings left than home meetings, there is an opportunity to make up the lost ground and get into the top six. Scunthorpe have 9 more home points available to them, but 24 away points.

 

To get into the top six, the two clubs that the Scorpions are most likely going to have to overhaul are Leicester (currently 6th) and Redcar (currently third), assuming that currently seventh-placed Somerset will go on and qualify.

 

The Scorpions, recently strengthened by the signing of Nicolai Klindt, have away trips to both Leicester and Redcar in the next fortnight. Wins at Leicester and Redcar – or a win at one of these tracks plus the bonus point for a narrow defeat (six points or less) at the other – would move the Scorpions back into contention. A real bonus would be an away win of seven points or more at either Leicester or Redcar – worth four points.

 

At the same time, the Scorpions need to avoid dropping further home points. While scores of 46-44, 47-46 and 45-44 in the last three meetings at the Eddie Wright Raceway have made for some epic speedway encounters, the Scorpions really could do with taking all three points against Berwick (August 2nd), Plymouth (August 16th) and Leicester (August 26th).

 

Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “It’s a do-or-die week for us. It’s a crunch weekend, we really need to start getting more points on the board if we are going to get into the top six and the play-offs.

 

“We’re expecting to have a full team out this weekend, so we have no excuses.

 

“We need to take all three points off Berwick at the Eddie Wright Raceway, and then pick up an away win at Leicester.

 

“We took a point at Ipswich despite being without Ashley Birks, and nearly took a point at Somerset despite being without Josh Auty. We’ve shown we can be competitive everywhere.

 

“But we’ve stopped looking for the losing bonus point from away meetings – we need to start taking away wins, otherwise our season will be over pretty soon.

 

“I’m not going to pick out a single rider as a key rider, because we now have a line-up in which all seven riders are capable of going out and top scoring for us.

 

“We need to perform collectively as a team and starting picking up the away wins, as well as not dropping home points. We can do it; we now have a strong side.

 

“We also need a bit of luck to start going our way, but I firmly believe we can still make the championship play-offs”, concluded Godfrey.

 

Admission Prices for Friday:

Adult: £14.00

Student/OAP: £12.00

Child (10 - 16): £5.00

Child (0 - 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult)

Family Ticket £33 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-16)

Match Programme: £1.00

 

Teams for Friday (English unless stated):

 

Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Auty, 2. Thomas Jørgensen (Denmark), 3. Nicolai Klindt (Denmark), 4. Ashley Birks, 5. David Howe, 6. Ryan Douglas (Australia), 7. Lewis Blackbird.

 

Berwick Bandits: 1. Ricky Ashworth, 2. David Bellego (France), 3. Robin Aspegren (Sweden), 4. Matthew Wethers (Australia), 5. Kozza Smith (Australia), 6. Nicki Barrett (Denmark), 7. Paul Starke.

 

 

 

Scorpions Info (as at 24 July 2012)

 

Ashley Birks has now scored over 900 points for the club (904 points to date - all levels)

David Howe has now moved up to 2nd in the all-time list of appearances made for the club (169 to date).

 

Berwick Bandits at EWR

 

 

Ave Ave Best

Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Performance

Ricky Ashworth PL 11 48 87 5 7.25 7.67 18 from 5 rides (inc 6 pts T/R (2012))

Robin Aspegren PL 4 15 21 5 5.60 6.93 11 + 1 from 6 rides (2012)

Nicki Barrett DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR

David Bellego PL 3 12 10 1 3.33 3.67 5 from 4 rides (2012)

Kozza Smith PL 4 22 32 1 5.82 6.00 14 from 5 rides (inc 6 pts T/R (2011))

Paul Starke DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR

Matthew Wethers PL 7 28 34 3 4.86 5.29 7 + 1 from 4 rides (2008)

 

Other Notes

 

Ricky Ashworth

2009 Premier League Riders' Champion.

A member of Sheffield's Premier League Pairs Winning Team in 2010.

Member of Sheffield's Premier League Championship, KO Cup and Young Shield Winning Teams in 2002.

Member of Berwick's Premier League Fours Championship Winning Team in 2012.

 

Robin Aspegren

Member of Newport's Premier League KO Cup Winning Team in 2011.

 

Nicki Barrett

Made his Premier League debut for Berwick during the 2012 season.

 

David Bellego

Member of Glasgow's Premier League Championship Winning Team in 2011.

Member of Berwick's Premier League Fours Championship Winning Team in 2012.

 

Kozza Smith

Queensland State Under-21 Champion 2006.

Premier League Championship Winner with King's Lynn in 2009.

 

Paul Starke

Member of Plymouth's Conference Trophy and KO Cup Winning Teams in 2008.

Member of Plymouth's National Trophy Winning Team in 2009.

Also rides for Dudley in the National League.

 

Matthew Wethers

Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship Winning Teams in 2003, 2008 and 2010.

Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Play-Off Winning Teams in 2008 and 2009.

Member of Edinburgh's Premier Trophy Winning Team in 2008.

 

 

Berwick Bandits' 2013 Results

 

30 March 2013 COTN(1) H W Berwick 47 Edinburgh 45

06 April 2013 LC H W Berwick 57 Glasgow 36

07 April 2013 LC A L Berwick 43 Glasgow 46

13 April 2013 KOC(1) H L Berwick 44 Redcar 46

18 April 2013 KOC(2) A L Berwick 44 Redcar 45 (On agg - L:- 88-91)

20 April 2013 LC H L Berwick 42 Edinburgh 48

26 April 2013 LC A L Berwick 37 Edinburgh 55

27 April 2013 PL H W Berwick 51 Sheffield 42

04 May 2013 PL H L Berwick 44 Workington 46

06 May 2013 PL A L Berwick 34 Workington 59

11 May 2013 PL H W Berwick 52 Leicester 40

21 May 2013 PL H L Berwick 41 Newcastle 49

06 June 2013 PL A L Berwick 43 Sheffield 52

08 June 2013 PL H W Berwick 48 Ipswich 45

20 June 2013 PL A L Berwick 40 Redcar 53

22 June 2013 PL H W Berwick 56 Plymouth 37

23 June 2013 PL A W Berwick 46 Glasgow 44

28 June 2013 PL A L Berwick 40 Plymouth 50

06 July 2013 PL H W Berwick 54 Scunthorpe 36

13 July 2013 PL H L Berwick 44 Redcar 45

26 July 2013 PL A L Berwick 39 Edinburgh 51

27 July 2013 PL H W Berwick 53 Glasgow 42

 

Berwick's Results at EWR

 

04 July 2008 PL L Scunthorpe 52 Berwick 41

04 September 2009 PL L Scunthorpe 51 Berwick 42

23 April 2010 PL L Scunthorpe 62 Berwick 28

25 March 2011 PL L Scunthorpe 56 Berwick 39

23 March 2012 LC L Scunthorpe 53 Berwick 40

27 July 2012 PL L Scunthorpe 48 Berwick 42

 

(stats courtesy of John Eyre)

Edited July 31, 2013 by lucifer sam

[screm]

No that is a press release,no flannel,and no hint of Harry Potter magic.

 

Well done Scunthorpe.

[Robinh88]

Experts View

home win

[bandits 13]

47-43

[Bandits4life]

Bandits to pull off a shock. Bandits by 4 (I hope)

[emilali]

Berwick by 10.

[screm]

How pleasing it would be to see Berwick get something,but their form this season away from home suggests not.

[luluthetiger]

No that is a press release,no flannel,and no hint of Harry Potter magic.

 

Well done Scunthorpe.

 

And as boring as fluck. Straight into the bin beside any self-respecting editor's desk.

[freddyfivetoes]

And as boring as fluck. Straight into the bin beside any self-respecting editor's desk.

 

Absolutely correct. These are for media desks, not sad anoraks.

[Robinh88]

Tbh I think its about time some so called fans got behind the team. our lads and promotion busting there balls to bring a champions league spot to Shielfield.

 

Come on the lads

[screm]

And as boring as fluck. Straight into the bin beside any self-respecting editor's desk.

 

Fair enough,thats an opinion your more than entitled to.However,last week I pointed out a mistake in the Glasgow & Under-21 preview press release from Berwick.Giving that Berwick are calling next weeks meeting as "one of the biggest ever",you wouldve thought there would have been a read through as much to my amazement the mistake is still there,and thats just plain careless.

 

And here it is.......Dudel.

 

The presence of two young riders (Dudel and Bech) who have already been in World Cup-winning teams highlights the quality of the field. In addition, 18-year-old Mikkel Michelsen made a dramatic Elite League debut on Sky TV on Monday, and must be a favoured competitor.

[Goldmember06]

Is Aspegren back for this one?

[screm]

Is Aspegren back for this one?

 

Im sure he will be.

[emilali]

 

 

Fair enough,thats an opinion your more than entitled to.However,last week I pointed out a mistake in the Glasgow & Under-21 preview press release from Berwick.Giving that Berwick are calling next weeks meeting as "one of the biggest ever",you wouldve thought there would have been a read through as much to my amazement the mistake is still there,and thats just plain careless.

 

And here it is.......Dudel.

 

The presence of two young riders (Dudel and Bech) who have already been in World Cup-winning teams highlights the quality of the field. In addition, 18-year-old Mikkel Michelsen made a dramatic Elite League debut on Sky TV on Monday, and must be a favoured competitor.

 

Lol just about sums everything up. All the ideas but cant get the basics right, most notably being the team over the past 4 seasons. Looking forward to the u21 meeting though, if 'dudel' is half as good as Dudek it will take a good rider to stop him.

[Arson fire]

Not like Fred and lulu to be agreeing with each other, posting after each other on a Berwick thread, they will be telling us how good Dick is next

 

52-40

Edited August 1, 2013 by Arson fire

[emilali]

 

 

And as boring as fluck. Straight into the bin beside any self-respecting editor's desk.

 

Maybe the Bandits Media guru should contact Scunny and offer a hand with there releases as they clearly aren't as great as ours....

[screm]

Lol just about sums everything up. All the ideas but cant get the basics right, most notably being the team over the past 4 seasons. Looking forward to the u21 meeting though, if 'dudel' is half as good as Dudek it will take a good rider to stop him.

 

The Scunthorpe press release may very well be "boring as fluk",as was so eloquently put earlier on,but my point is a simple one and on the face of it easily to remedy.

 

Before releasing Mr press release have a read through and correct any mistakes,it cant be that hard.

[emilali]

 

 

The Scunthorpe press release may very well be "boring as fluk",as was so eloquently put earlier on,but my point is a simple one and on the face of it easily to remedy.

 

Before releasing Mr press release have a read through and correct any mistakes,it cant be that hard.

 

Totally agree.

[lucifer sam]

Maybe the Bandits Media guru should contact Scunny and offer a hand with there releases as they clearly aren't as great as ours....

 

Thank you for your kind offer, but I think we can manage.

 

All the best

Rob

Edited August 1, 2013 by lucifer sam

[lucifer sam]

IT’S CRUNCH TIME for the Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions, with promoter Rob Godfrey insisting that the team must take all three Premier League points from tonight’s encounter against the Berwick Bandits at the Eddie Wright Raceway (Friday, 7.30pm).

 

And Godfrey is also looking for a win in an away clash at Leicester’s Beaumont Park on Saturday evening.

 

Scunthorpe, the reigning Premier League champions, have scored the maximum three league points (awarded for a win by seven or more points) in only two out of nine home PL meetings, and have yet to register an away win this season. They have dropped 11 points at home, and gained 3 points away.

 

Boosted by recent signing Nicolai Klindt, the Scorpions need to score maximum points from their last three home meetings, and to pick up at least two (preferably three) away wins.

 

Godfrey said: “This is a do-or-die weekend for us. For starters, we can’t afford to drop a further home point, we need all three points off Berwick.

 

“I’m sure the fans don’t want our season to finish early, and will get behind the boys, as we seek to gain the convincing win that we need. We have to beat Berwick well.

 

“And then we need three or four points at Leicester. Anything else is going to leave us with a mighty mountain to climb in our remaining meetings.”

 

After missing last Friday’s visit to Somerset, No 1 Josh Auty returns to action for the Scorpions. Auty is Mr Entertainment around the Eddie Wright Raceway.

 

Ashley Birks (who scored paid 13 at Somerset) seems to have shrugged off any ill effects from his scaphoid injury and the Scorpions are due to be at full strength for the first time since Klindt signed for the club.

 

Berwick are a good solid side, who themselves have an outside chance of the play-offs. No 1 Ricky Ashworth is one of the classiest performers around the Eddie Wright Raceway, although he is struggling to get back to his usual form until a lengthy spell on the sidelines earlier in the season.

 

Admission Prices for tonight:

 

Adult: £14.00

Student/OAP: £12.00

Child (10 - 16): £5.00

Child (0 - 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult)

Family Ticket £33 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-16)

Match Programme: £1.00

 

Teams for tonight:

 

Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Auty, 2. Thomas Jørgensen, 3. Nicolai Klindt, 4. Ashley Birks, 5. David Howe, 6. Ryan Douglas, 7. Lewis Blackbird.

 

Berwick Bandits: 1. Ricky Ashworth, 2. David Bellego, 3. Robin Aspegren, 4. Matthew Wethers, 5. Kozza Smith, 6. Nicki Barrett, 7. Paul Starke.