Conference League
Scunthorpe Speedway: Tightest Conference League yet.
By Admin
Jul 14, 2008, 19:26

The Scunthorpe Saints lost 60-33 to the Boston Barracudas last night in King’s Lynn and the result means the Conference League is still shaping up to be the closest ever. 

The Saints remain top of the table whilst just four away wins have been achieved in the league all season.  Three of those have been achieved at Sittingbourne, including the Saints victory in Kent last weekend.     

It all means the Saints will be focussing on winning their remaining three home league meetings (against Buxton next Friday, Sittingbourne and Plymouth) whilst hoping to snatch one more away win from either Buxton or Weymouth.  Four wins from the five remaining league matches should see the Saints make the playoffs but after last night’s defeat Team Manager Malcolm Vasey confirmed the club are primarily in place to develop riders for the Premier League team “Everybody tried their best but we took on a really tough mission tonight.  Unsurprisingly we were beaten but we gave it our best shot.  Ben Hopwood was disappointing but he was rusty and will be practicing at Scunthorpe on Tuesday in an attempt to sort himself out for next Friday. We are now going to re-focus the team on a younger side and we have to look to the future.  That is what Scunthorpe Saints are about and we have to take the bull by the horns and entrust the youngsters to beat Buxton on Friday”.  Whilst the final line-up is dependent on the injury situation next Friday is set to see Adam Wrathall make his Saints’ debut whilst Stuart Parnaby and Ricky Scarboro look like stepping down from the starting seven whilst retaining their place in the squad.

Last night’s result was, in reality, never in doubt when only a lap three fall for Adam Lowe in heat 2 preventing the Barracudas opening with four 5-1s.  However, the Saints did come to terms with track conditions and improved as the meeting went on.  Captain Byron Bekker’s clutch had problems at the start of heat one and he was left on the line but made up for it in heat 5 by passing Darren Mallett and James Cockle to claim victory.  With Stuart Parnaby holding off Oliver Rayson the Saints claimed a 4-2 heat advantage.  Bekker was then brought out as a tactical substitute from the 15-metre mark in heat 8 and nearly overhauled Darren Rolph to claim six points before Ricky Scarboro and Gary Irving both passed James Cockle in heat 9.

Two races later Bekker and Parnaby claimed another drawn heat before Gary Irving was given a tactical ride for double points.  Sadly he wasn’t able to pass Cockle but with Scott Richardson claiming third place the Saints had at least pegged the scores back a little with a 5-3.  Unsurprisingly Simon Lambert and Joe Haines, who are both performing well as second-string riders in the Premier League this season, completed their maximums with 5-1 heat wins in heats 13 and 15 whilst Gary Irving took a nasty crash at the start of heat 14.

Afterwards Irving, who had second top-scored with eight points had this to say about the experience “I’m fine after my crash.  I hurt my shoulder a little bit but it was just a silly mistake.  I’ve bent my forks and the handlebars are a little bit twisted but I’ll get them sorted out for Friday.  It was a good meeting.  I’ve never been here before but it suited better than Sittingbourne.  A big fast track and I enjoyed it” 

The Saints take on the Buxton Hitmen in a must-win fixture next Friday night, 18th July at the Eddie Wright Raceway with the meeting set to immediately follow Scorpions equally important Premier League clash against the King’s Lynn Stars.  Start time for the first meeting will be thirty minutes earlier than normal, at 7pm.

Boston Barracudas 60
Simon Lambert 14+1 (5 rides), Darren Rolph 9+3 (4), James Cockle 5+1 (4), Darren Mallett 11 (4), Joe Haines 14+1 (5), Adam Lowe 1 (4), Oliver Rayson 6+1 (4)

Scunthorpe Saints 33
Byron Bekker 11 (6 rides including a four point tactical substitution), Stuart Parnaby 3+1 (4), Scott Richardson 5+1 (5), Ben Hopwood 0 (3),  Ricky Scarboro 3 (4), Gary Irving 8+1 (5, including a four point tactical ride), Michael Pickering 3+1 (3)