Leicester Lions v Scunthorpe Scorpions

LEICESTER joined Glasgow and Poole in the Championship Jubilee League Final with a 56-34 win over Scunthorpe in the final Northern group fixture.

The Lions needed to win the meeting and avoid the Scorpions taking a point, and they achieved that target with two races remaining as Nick Morris completed a 12-point maximum.

Kyle Howarth added 11+2 and Richie Worrall 10 in another strong home performance, whilst Richard Lawson guested for the visitors and scored 16 – but they miss out on the Final on race points difference.

Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: “The meeting was nip and tuck for the first five or six races, and I always felt if we went six ahead Richard Lawson would be getting seven riders with the rider replacement.

“But we got into our stride, and we are pretty good round here. I’m not saying the scoreline flattered us at 56-34, but I don’t think we panicked at any stage, and I think we were well worth the victory.

“We’ve got a place in the Final and you could probably argue it is the three ‘big’ teams in the Final, so that’s going to be really tough, but we’re just glad to get there and overall I’m pretty pleased.”

Scunthorpe boss Kevin Moore added: “All the riders put in the effort tonight. For some of our riders, it just didn’t happen, but it wasn’t for the want of trying. For example, Tero (Aarnio) was changing bikes and changing things but he couldn’t get anywhere. For speedway riders, that sometimes happens. James (Wright) was also changing things and in his case, it came right in Heat 14 and he won that race.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to Richard Lawson for standing in for Ryan Douglas. They are big boots to fill, and I thought Richard filled them very well and had a superb meeting for us.

“Overall, I felt we did well in this competition. We fell a bit short tonight, but I felt we had a very good meeting at Redcar, and we were very close to getting the result we needed there. Leicester were the better team tonight; they are a strong team and deserved to win tonight, and we wish them the best in the final.”

LEICESTER 56: Nick Morris 12, Kyle Howarth 11+2, Richie Worrall 10, Max Clegg 8+3, Dan Thompson 8+2, Connor Mountain 5+3, Joe Thompson 2.
SCUNTHORPE 34: Richard Lawson 16, Simon Lambert 6+1, James Wright 6+1, Anders Rowe 5, Adam Roynon 1, Tero Aarnio 0, Jake Allen r/r.

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Photo credit: MARK HALL