Scunthorpe V Glasgow (pl) - Friday, September 21st (7.30pm) - Can Scorpions Finish Top Of The Table?

[lucifer sam 3,953]

MASSIVE NIGHT FOR SCORPIONS ON FRIDAY, AS THEY ATTEMPT TO FINISH TOP OF THE TABLE!

 

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions continue the exciting build-up to the play-offs, as they bid to finish top of the regular Premier League table on Friday night. The Scorpions will be out to take three Premier League points from a vital clash against the Glasgow Tigers at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday (7.30pm) – and hope that other results go their way.

 

The Scorpions are already assured of their best ever Premier League finish (their previous best being fifth in 1983), but it’s now a case of bagging a top two place, or even top position.

 

The situation regarding the top four is currently as follows:

 

NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS

Current league position: 1st.

Current Premier League Points: 48.

Current Race Points Difference: +158.

Remaining fixtures: Plymouth (away) – Friday 21st Sept.

Maximum Premier League Points: 52.

 

SOMERSET REBELS

Current league position: 2nd.

Current Premier League Points: 48.

Current Race Points Difference: +143.

Remaining fixtures: None.

Maximum Premier League Points: 48.

 

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS

Current league position: 3rd.

Current Premier League Points: 47.

Current Race Points Difference: +91.

Remaining fixtures: Glasgow (home) – Friday 21st Sept.

Maximum Premier League Points: 50.

 

LEICESTER LIONS

Current league position: 4th.

Current Premier League Points: 41.

Current Race Points Difference: +12.

Remaining fixtures: Redcar (away) – Thursday 20th Sept, Edinburgh (away) – Friday 21st Sept, Workington (away) – Saturday 22nd Sept.

Maximum Premier League Points: 53.

 

Therefore, Leicester can reach the highest points tally (53), but in order to do so they would have to score three away wins of 7 points or more, on three successive nights.

 

The Lions face a Redcar team who have really started to get dialled into their home track in recent weeks, an Edinburgh side who lost to Scunthorpe in wet conditions at home but otherwise have in good form around Armadale, and finally Workington, who have an unbeaten home league record but are currently decimated by injury.

 

It is possible seeing the Lions take wins in one or two of those meetings, but to win all three would be a tall order. If they win all three, they would certainly be deserving of the top spot.

 

But it’s more likely for the top spot to be between Newcastle and Scunthorpe.

 

The Diamonds are away at bottom club Plymouth on Friday night. However, the Devils will be going out to win the meeting by at least seven points, and therefore avoid finishing bottom of the 2012 Premier League by climbing ahead of Sheffield. That would clinch a place in the end-of-season competition that features the 7th to 12th placed teams for the Devils.

 

Newcastle have a superior race points difference to Scunthorpe, and therefore the Scorpions need to outscore the Diamonds by two league points on Friday. If the Scorpions were to win on Friday, and also take the third league point for winning by more than 7 points at home, the Scorpions would move onto 50 points. That would leave Newcastle needing a draw or a win at Plymouth to edge out the Scorpions.

 

If Newcastle failed to score any points at all at Plymouth (i.e. a loss by 7 points or more), then Scunthorpe could top the table by taking just two points off Glasgow (i.e. a win by less than 7 points), provided Leicester (with their inferior race points difference) scored 8 or less points from their three away meetings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

 

Team manager Richard Hollingsworth said: “Friday night is THE night, where in all probability, the team who finishes top the table is likely to be decided. I’m sure fans with smart phones will be following the updates at Plymouth and Edinburgh on Friday night, while watching the action unfold in front of them at the Eddie Wright Raceway at the same time.

 

“However, for the riders and management, we can’t allow for that sort of distraction. Our task will be simple. And that will be to make sure we score all three Premier League points against Glasgow.

 

“We never under-estimate the opposition, and Glasgow do pose a threat. The Tigers pushed us close in a curtailed League Cup at the Eddie Wright Raceway earlier in the season (final score 40-34), and were 14-10 ahead when the Premier League fixture was initially washed out on July 20th.

 

“What has delighted me in recent weeks has been our all-round strength at the Eddie Wright Raceway. Hugh Skidmore was a very competent guest last Friday, and had three very good rides out of four, and yet he finished as our bottom scorer! Michael (Palm Toft) and Gary (Irving) have been consistently banging in the points from reserve, as have the whole team.

 

“We have Robin Aspegren as a guest for Thomas Jorgensen on Friday. Robin acquitted himself very well last time he guested for us, when he came in at the last minute to guest for Nick Morris against Plymouth. We were very impressed by him, and it has led to this repeat booking. It could well be that Robin plays a part for us in the play-offs as well.”

 

Glasgow have Poole’s Sam Masters as a guest for their injured No 1 Joe Screen.

 

Scunthorpe have scored 19 out of 19 Premier League points, since defeat at Workington on August 11th. Since the Scorpions have picked up a club record away win at Edinburgh (54-39), plus home wins against Sheffield (51-42), Somerset (50-40), Plymouth (54-39), Berwick (58-34) and Redcar (55-38).

 

Hollingsworth enthused: “We’ve hit form at just the right time of the season. We want to continue that on Friday night, and take the momentum through into the play-offs.

 

“There’s also the chance for us to complete an unbeaten home record at this level for only the second time, and for the first time since 1983. We’ve only dropped two Premier League points in our previous 11 home matches so far – to Newcastle and Berwick.

 

“It’s going to be an exciting few weeks, but we will take it one step at a time.

 

“The first step is to beat Glasgow on Friday, and keep our fingers crossed that results elsewhere go our way. Even though the championship is decided in the play-offs, finishing top of the Premier League table for the first time ever would mean so much to Scunthorpe Speedway”, concluded Hollingsworth.

 

Teams for Friday (English unless stated):

 

Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Auty, 2. David Howe R/R, 3. Robin Aspegren (Sweden), 4. Ashley Birks, 5. Nick Morris (Australia), 6. Michael Palm Toft (Denmark), 7. Gary Irving.

 

Glasgow Tigers: 1. Sam Masters (Australia), 2. Mason Campton (Australia), 3. Josh Grajczonek (Australia), 4. Henning Bager (Denmark), 5. James Grieves (Scotland), 6. James McBain (Scotland), 7. Charles Wright.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE

(As at Tuesday, September 18th, 2012)

 

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

1 Newcastle 23 11 1 0 0 1 0 1 7 2 1133 975 48

2 Somerset 24 9 3 0 0 1 2 1 3 5 1170 1027 48

3 Scunthorpe 23 9 2 0 0 2 1 1 3 5 1097 1006 47

4 Leicester 21 7 5 0 0 0 3 0 1 5 970 958 41

5 Workington 22 7 3 0 0 1 1 2 2 6 1032 970 40

6 Edinburgh 22 9 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 7 1043 970 38

7 Ipswich 24 6 3 0 3 1 1 0 4 6 1088 1080 35

8 Glasgow 23 8 0 3 1 0 1 0 1 9 994 1078 31

9 Berwick 23 6 2 0 4 1 0 0 2 8 1006 1102 28

10 Redcar 23 4 2 2 3 1 1 0 2 8 1019 1072 27

11 Sheffield 24 6 2 0 4 0 1 0 1 10 1052 1161 26

12 Rye House 23 5 2 0 4 0 1 1 0 10 1007 1098 24

13 Plymouth 23 6 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 12 1004 1118 23

 

 

Glasgow Tigers at EWR

 

Ave Ave Best

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

Henning Bager PL 5 20 37 6 7.40 8.60 16 from 6 rides (inc 6 pts T/R (2011))

Mason Campton PL 3 9 11 3 4.89 6.22 7 + 1 from 3 rides (2012)

Josh Grajczonek PL 7 21 36 1 6.86 7.05 11 from 5 rides (2009)

James Grieves PL 6 22 21 1 3.82 4.00 8 from 5 rides (2008)

Sam Masters PL 4 19 22 3 4.63 5.26 12 from 6 rides (inc 6 pts T/R (2010))

James McBain DEBUT @ EWR

Charles Wright PL 4 15 11 2 2.93 3.47 4 from 4 rides (2008)

 

Other Notes

 

Henning Bager

Danish 80cc Champion in 1996.

Former World Under-21 finalist (2002).

 

Mason Campton

Australian rider from New South Wales in his debut Premier League season.

Guested for the Scorpions in their 48-42 home league win v Berwick, scoring 3 + 1 points.

 

Josh Grajczonek

Twice Queensland State Champion in 2009 and 2011.

A Premier League Championship Winner with Glasgow in 2011.

Named as a 'doubling up' rider with Belle Vue for the 2012 Elite League season.

 

James Grieves

Member of Wolverhampton's Elite League Championship and KO Cup Winning Teams in 1996.

Member of Glasgow's Second Division League Championship and KO Cup Winning Teams in 1993 and 1994.

Member of Edinburgh's Premier League KO Cup Winning Team in 1999.

Member of Wolverhampton's Premiership Winning Team in 1997.

Member of Redcar's Young Shield Winning Team in 2007.

Member of Glasgow's Premier League Pairs Champions in 2011.

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

 

Sam Masters

2011 Premier League Riders' Champion.

2009 New South Wales Under-21 Champion.

New South Wales Under-16 Champion for 4 consecutive years (2004 to 2007).

Has qualified for this year's World Under-21 Individual Championship Final Series.

Named as a 'doubling-up' rider with Poole for the 2012 Elite League Season.

 

James McBain

Local rider who was recently brought in to replace Filip Sitera.

Made his Conference League debut in 2004 for Armadale v Swindon, scoring 2 points.

A Conference Trophy Winner with Armadale in 2005.

Winner of the 2011 Heathersfield Golden Helmet Individual Junior Championship, held at Glasgow.

 

Charles Wright

Member of Workington's Premier League Fours and Young Shield Winning Teams in 2008.

 

Glasgow Tigers' 2012 Results

 

25 March 2012 ST(1) H W Glasgow 52 Edinburgh 38

30 March 2012 ST(2) A L Glasgow 36 Edinburgh 56 (On agg - L: 88 - 94)

01 April 2012 LC H L Glasgow 43 Scunthorpe 47

07 April 2012 LC A L Glasgow 42 Berwick 51

08 April 2012 LC H W Glasgow 56 Berwick 35

14 April 2012 LC A L Glasgow 40 Workington 53

15 April 2012 LC H L Glasgow 43 Workington 52

22 April 2012 LC H W Glasgow 54 Sheffield 39

27 April 2012 LC A L Glasgow 33 Edinburgh 61

29 April 2012 LC H W Glasgow 52 Edinburgh 41

03 May 2012 LC A L Glasgow 34 Sheffield 58

06 May 2012 PL H L Glasgow 44 Leicester 46

11 May 2012 LC A L Glasgow 34 Scunthorpe 40

18 May 2012 KOC A L Glasgow 38 Plymouth 52

20 May 2012 PL H W Glasgow 49 Redcar 41

26 May 2012 PL A L Glasgow 41 Berwick 49

27 May 2012 KOC H W Glasgow 54 Plymouth 36 (On agg - W: 92 - 88)

03 June 2012 PL H D Glasgow 45 Newcastle 45

04 June 2012 PL A L Glasgow 36 Newcastle 62

14 June 2012 PL A L Glasgow 29 Ipswich 63

15 June 2012 PL A L Glasgow 34 Somerset 58

17 June 2012 PL H D Glasgow 45 Workington 45

24 June 2012 PL H W Glasgow 55 Scunthorpe 38

01 July 2012 KOC QF H L Glasgow 44 Edinburgh 46

06 July 2012 KOC QF A L Glasgow 38 Edinburgh 52 (On agg - L: 82 - 98)

08 July 2012 PL H W Glasgow 49 Plymouth 41

14 July 2012 PL A L Glasgow 39 Leicester 53

21 July 2012 PL A L Glasgow 33 Rye House 58

22 July 2012 PL H W Glasgow 52 Edinburgh 40

29 July 2012 PL H W Glasgow 51 Rye House 36

02 August 2012 PL A W Glasgow 48 Sheffield 47

12 August 2012 PL H D Glasgow 45 Somerset 45

19 August 2012 PL H W Glasgow 42 Ipswich 33

30 August 2012 PL A L Glasgow 40 Redcar 49

02 September 2012 PL H W Glasgow 54 Sheffield 39

07 September 2012 PL A L Glasgow 41 Plymouth 49

09 September 2012 PL H W Glasgow 50 Berwick 39

14 September 2012 PL A L Glasgow 35 Edinburgh 57

15 September 2012 PL A L Glasgow 42 Workington 44

 

Glasgow Tigers' Results at EWR

 

25 August 2008 PL L Scunthorpe 54 Glasgow 39

21 August 2009 PL L Scunthorpe 50 Glasgow 40

03 September 2010 PL L Scunthorpe 62 Glasgow 30

29 July 2011 PL L Scunthorpe 54 Glasgow 36

30 September 2011 PL(Ph 2) L Scunthorpe 57 Glasgow 38

11 May 2012 LC L Scunthorpe 40 Glasgow 34

 

(stats courtesy of John Eyre)

[arthur cross 492]

As usual, a great and comprehensive preview of Scunthorpe's home action.

 

In case Workington do shut down & their results are scrapped, Scunthorpe would lose only 3 league points whereas Newcastle & Somerset would each lose 4 league points (they all enjoyed a wide-enough home win over the Comets but only the Diamonds & the Rebels nicked an away point from Derwent Park).

 

Hence, if Worky shut, Newcastle would then need to win at Plymouth (instead of just drawing) to guarantee finishing ahead of the Scorpions.

[EC Rides Again 143]

Is Nick Morris OK after withdrawing from tonight's "epic" at Leicester ?

[Scunny Stag 72]

Is Nick Morris OK after withdrawing from tonight's "epic" at Leicester ?

 

Thankfully feedback from Nick is that he is fine

[EC Rides Again 143]

Thankfully feedback from Nick is that he is fine

 

Good to know, thanks Richard.

 

Exciting times at Scunthorpe and I am concerned when any of the Scorpions have a problem at their other meetings. Held my breath when Josh came off at Birmingham in front of the Sky cameras on Monday ( as did all the management at the EWR, I'm sure !) .

Edited September 19, 2012 by EC Rides Again

[lucifer sam 3,953]

Jason Bunyan is now the guest for Scunny on Friday - Robin Aspegren is unavailable.

 

Bunyan scored 12+1 in the recent Scunny v Rye House PL match.

[brylcream boy 141]

True he did score 12+1, but that was from reserve with 7 rides. What will he do as No 3?

[crescent girl 1,905]

Jason Bunyan is now the guest for Scunny on Friday - Robin Aspegren is unavailable.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunate by-blow of Workington's apparent refusal to host Berwick this weekend. Aspegren presumably won't fly in to ride for Scunny if he hasn't got a Berwick meeting.

[montie 1,273]

Unfortunate by-blow of Workington's apparent refusal to host Berwick this weekend. Aspegren presumably won't fly in to ride for Scunny if he hasn't got a Berwick meeting.

 

Were they running a double header?? as i think Leicester are there this Saturday??

[crescent girl 1,905]

It virtually had to be a double-header (to complete all PL fixtures by the already-extended deadline) as Workington had already had the stadium pulled from under them for last Sunday, and declined to run on Friday. Which leaves Saturday, and Berwick (who were giving up their own usual race-night this week to do it) were standing by to go over there.

 

No idea what happens to the PL table now -- I suspect Workington will get some kind of fine for failing to complete fixtures.

[Fromafar 10,358]

It virtually had to be a double-header (to complete all PL fixtures by the already-extended deadline) as Workington had already had the stadium pulled from under them for last Sunday, and declined to run on Friday. Which leaves Saturday, and Berwick (who were giving up their own usual race-night this week to do it) were standing by to go over there.

 

No idea what happens to the PL table now -- I suspect Workington will get some kind of fine for failing to complete fixtures.

They might complete their fixtures though.the completion of fixtures by this weekend was just a cut-off date for league positions and as it does not effect top six does it really matter and it is regionalised anyway.

[lucifer sam 3,953]

Good luck to the Scorpions tonight. After Leicester's defeat night at Redcar, it's more-or-less (barring a mathematical miracle), now a straight fight between Scunny and Newcastle in their respective fixtures tonight to see who finishes top of the table.

 

Scunthorpe need to outscore Newcaslte by two PL points e.g. if Scunny took all 3 points tonight, we need Newcastle to score only 1 point.

 

C'MON THE SCORPIONS!!!!

 

All the best

Rob

Edited September 21, 2012 by lucifer sam

[EC Rides Again 143]

Weather update from Scunthorpe ? (Yes, Sheffield fans I need to know the weather in Scunthorpe - not Sheffield !)

Edited September 21, 2012 by EC Rides Again

[bullet 72]

Currently wet but drizzle is starting to die out and should then be dry for rest of day

[tubby 3]

Slinging it down,if this meeting goes ahead i'll run starkers down normanby rd.