Away daze finally end

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS    58

FTS BANDITS, POWERED BY KEENWOOD KARPETS    32

Berwick’s dreadful season on the road was finally put out of its misery on a sweltering hot Lincolnshire evening as they slipped to their eighth defeat from as many away days.

It was tough work from the first race with Rory Schlein getting a preview of how his evening would go when he found himself fending off Connor Mountain for most of the race with Ryan Douglas beginning the march towards another maximum off in the distance.

Drew Kemp’s engine dramatically gave up the ghost at the start of heat two to gift the visiting pairing of guest Luke Harrison and Jacob Hook a shared heat two.

Leon Flint and Jye Etheridge had been a potent pairing at Plymouth on Tuesday, and they hit the front in three only to be mugged by a classic Scunthorpe manoeuvre as Simon Lambert went outside and Palm Toft inside the Bandits’ pairing.

Harrison has hundreds of laps under his belt around the Scunthorpe track which is virtually on the 16-year old’s doorstep and he hit the front in four forcing Jake Allen to work hard to relegate him to second place.

Team manager Scott Courtney wasted no time in playing his tactical card as skipper Flint got the call to take what was programmed as a rider-replacement ride in five. But he could only watch from the back as, with Palm Toft out front, Schlein and Lambert passed and re-passed, the Berwick number one swooping up the inside to claim second on the run to the line.

Hans Andersen looked to have made the right mechanical adjustments after a poor first ride as he hit the first bend ahead only to be picked off by first Douglas and then Mountain.

Berwick finally got a heat winner in seven with Flint roaring around Allen on the third bend while Etheridge found a way past Nathan Ablitt on the second lap to pull back two points.

It turned out to be a brief respite as Scunthorpe slammed in back-to-back 5-1s, Etheridge losing out to Kemp after a good battle, but Andersen and Hook were well adrift in nine.

Etheridge has had a great week results-wise and again he found his gating gloves, joining Flint into the first bends only for Douglas to roar past both down the back straight, Mountain putting the visiting Aussie under real pressure on the final lap.

Schlein found himself in the crosshairs again in 11, his evening summed up by a good gate and then being picked off by the Scorpions.

Etheridge was back in the thick of the action in 12, heading the race alongside Hook. Lambert and Kemp found a way past the younger Berwick Aussie, but the Scorpions’ reserve ran out of track as he tried to repeat the performance.

Kemp tried to clear the track but the red lights came on just as Lambert looked set to take the lead. In the rerun it was Etheridge’s turn to put Lambert under pressure. The home skipper seemed to have prevailed only for his bike to fail on the last bend gifting Berwick a 5-1 although still had the momentum to coast over the line.

Schlein really can claim that his final tally short-changed him on the night, hitting the front again in 13, relegated to third and finally finding a way to beat Allen to the flag for second place after a monumental race.

Harrison further added to his growing reputation by hunting down and passing Ablitt in the penultimate heat, joining his skipper in a share of the spoils behind the unbeaten Palm Toft.

Douglas duly completed his maximum in 15 but the battle was behind him for second place with Flint and Allen trading passes before the Scorpion man took the flag.

“All that’s left is to make sure that we consign Plymouth to the bottom of the table at Shielfield tomorrow night,” Courtney admitted. “There was a lot of effort tonight from all of the boys and we played our part in a really good speedway meeting but have nothing to show for it.”

Scorpions: Ryan Douglas 15, Connor Mountain 6+1, Simon Lambert 7+1, Michael Palm Toft 11+1, Jake Allen 11+1, Nathan Ablitt 6+1, Drew Kemp 2+1

Bandits: Rory Schlein 7, Rider-replacement, Jye Etheridge 7+1, Leon Flint 8, Hans Andersen 1, Jacob Hook 4+2, Luke Harrison 5+1