Stoke 44 Scunthorpe 44

 STOKE Easy Rider Potters gained a hard fought 44 all draw against the Scunthorpe Scorpions at Loomer Road on Saturday night.

 The Potters who lost teenage reserve Taylor Poole due to a leg injury pulled themselves back from the jaws of defeat in sensational style to send the home supporter’s home happy.

 Team manager Malcolm Vasey said “Losing Taylor put our backs to the wall as he has been scoring well for us this season at reserve, but the lads got themselves together and really stuck in there. Leigh Lanham was superb for us and Hynek and Ricky came up with some vital points for us late on in the match and I’m really pleased we have got something out of the meeting and sent the supporters home with something to shout about. It was a bizarre meeting starting with Taylor getting hurt then Bergstrom leaving the track on the final lap and gifting us a point and unfortunately Viktor who is a good lad sustaining what looked a very nasty burn on his wrist and then us gaining a 5-1 in the last race to snatch a draw and I’m really pleased for all the lads tonight it was a real battling performance from them out there. There is a chance that Jason Bunyan will be back next week and I’m confident Taylor will be ok and we’ll see what happens over the next seven day because we want to give the supporters something to come out for in droves and we’re at the start of that because I want to club to achieve what I believe it should be achieving and move us forward.”

 The Potters went in front as guest Leigh Lanham took a comfortable victory over Scorpions number one David Howe and Michal Rajkowski taking third place for a 4-2 heat win. Taylor Poole and James Holder extended Stoke’s lead in heat two to six points as they took maximum points over Simon Lambert and Jerran Hart as the Potters took a 9-3 lead.

 Disaster struck for the Potters in heat three as Carl Wilkinson and Viktor Bergstrom made the gate over Poole and Ricky Wells before Poole took the wide line down the back straight going into turn three of the second lap where the youngster came to grief which resulted in him being excluded by referee Peter Clarke. In the rerun Wilkinson made no mistake with Wells finishing second but Bergstrom’s bike started to give up the ghost going into the final lap and Bergstrom pulled onto the centre green and retired from the race much to the disgust of the Scunthorpe management as he could have pushed home for what would have been a vital point in the final equation resulting in the Scorpions only gained a 3-2 heat advantage as the Potters lead 11-6 after three heats.

 The Scorpions level the scores in heat seven as the Potters only have Hynek Stichauer out due to Taylor Poole’s injury. Scorpions rider Wilkinson is leading the race with Stichauer battling hard to find away past him and as Stichauer makes his move around the outside, Wilkinson shuts the door and Stichauer falls. Referee Clarke excludes the Stoke rider as the primary cause of the stoppage and Wilkinson and Bergstrom take a 5-0 heat win for Scunthorpe to leave the two teams tied at 20 points all at the halfway stage of the meeting.

 The Scorpions edge in front after a heat nine 4-2 from skipper Magnus Karlsson and Jerran Hart over Ricky Wells after Hart was gifted his point when Holder got into trouble and fell while in third place as Scunthorpe open up a two point lead. Things got worse for the Potters as Wilkinson and Bergstrom gained maximum points over Lanham and Rajkowski in heat ten to open up a six point lead and the Scorpions went eight points up in heat eleven as Bergstrom got the better of Stichauer who manages to hold Howe at bay as the Scorpions pick up a 4-2 heat advantage to lead 28-36 with four races remaining.

 Scunthorpe’s management were angered in heat thirteen as Hynek Stichauer and Magnus Karlsson came together on the first turn as both riders hit the Loomer Road air fence, referee Clarke deeming that Karlsson was the primary cause of the stoppage and excluding him from the rerun. In the rerun Potters number one Leigh Lanham and Stichauer made no mistake as they kept David Howe at bay to take maximum points and bring the Potters back to within four points of the Scorpions as the Potters still trailed 36-40.

Ricky Wells made a superb start in heat fourteen to take victory from the previously unbeaten Carl Wilkinson as Simon Lambert held off the challenge of Holder for a drawn heat as the Potters still trailed by four point going into the final race.

 

Stichauer and Viktor Bergstrom both fell on the first turn of heat fifteen causing the race to be stopped, referee Clarke ordering a restart with all four riders, Stichauer was quick to his feet but Bergstrom is taken off the track in the ambulance and is withdrawn from the meeting after suffering a wrist problem and a burn. The Scunthorpe management bring in Carl Wilkinson to replace Bergstrom in the rerun. The Potters pairing though make no mistake as guest Lanham and Stichauer make a lightening start to gain a maximum 5-1 heat advantage over Karlsson and Wilkinson to snatch a well earned draw for the Easy Rider Potters.

 Promoter Dave Tattum said “It was a get out of jail job tonight but I’m delighted and really pleased for the lads and the supporters. We’d got less than half a team tonight using rider replacement for Klaus and then losing Taylor as we did early in the meeting and we’ve managed to gain a draw which is absolutely fantastic. I’m quite certain had we had Taylor Poole in the whole of the meeting we would have won the meeting quite comfortably. I’m told Taylor has tweaked a ligament at the back of his leg and am sure he’ll be ok for next week it’s nothing to serious and with a weeks rest now he should be ok. Leigh Lanham was a great guest we’ve had him guesting for us before and he’s been excellent for us again tonight. Hynek has done well tonight despite a bit of a battering and he also only arrived in the country from Poland at tea time tonight and he’s really come up with the goods and Ricky Wells has also upped his game and come up with double figures so I’m really pleased for the lads. The guys have put there all in tonight but there are still holes that need to be filled and I’m still working on changes at the moment, but once the pieces to the jigsaw fall into place changes will be made as we still need to strengthen up.”

 Stoke 44: Leigh Lanham 12, Ricky Wells 11, Hynek Stichauer 9+2, James Holder 5+4, Michal Rajkowski 4+1, Taylor Poole 3, Klaus Jakobsen (Rider Replacement)

 Scunthorpe 44: Carl Wilkinson 14, Viktor Bergstrom 10+2, Magnus Karlsson 9, David Howe 7, Simon Lambert 3+2, Jerran Hart 1, Joel Parsons (Rider Replacement)