With racing of the highest order and a result could have gone any way until the last of the fifteen races the meeting was pure drama. In the end the Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions were edged out 47-43 by their local rivals, the Sheffield Tigers.

A large turnout turned out on a pleasant summer's evening to see which team would claim the league points as both sides push for a high finish in the league table and a chance of picking their opponents in the Young Shield (a competition for sides finishing 5th to 12th in the league).

The meeting started with Sheffield quickly racing to a ten-point lead by heat four. Former Scorpion Paul Cooper joined with Joel Parsons for a Tigers' 5-1 in heat 1 before the visitors' guest rider Josh Grajczonek, in for the injured Lee Smethills, went from third to first in heat 2 to ensure the Scorpions didn't close the gap.

Emiliano Sanchez rode well to pass Andre Compton in heat 3 but then fell whilst chasing Parsons for the lead and the Scorpions had conceded another 5-1. Grajczonek fought his way from last to first in heat 4 whilst Ben Powell did limit the damage a little by passing Ben Wilson on the last lap. It still meant a 4-2 to the Tigers and they were suddenly ten points up at 17-7.

With Cooper and Compton in heat 5 Team Manager Kenny Smith decided not to use his tactical ride but must have rued it afterwards as Emiliano Sanchez and Magnus Karlsson recorded a 5-1. A further maximum heat win followed in the next race with Viktor Bergström and Richard Hall getting the better of Wilson and Kyle Hughes. The gap was now just two points and three drawn heats followed.

Firstly Joel Parsons had a good race with the Scorpions duo of Byron Bekker and Ben Powell in heat 7 until Bekker fell as Parsons passed him on the inside. Much to the surprise of most present the referee excluded Parsons and the race was awarded as a 3-3.

There was more drama in heat 8 as Viktor Bergström led Grajczonek until the Australian collided with the Swede and they both careered through the safety fence. Although Grajczonek was excluded for unfair riding both riders were transported to hospital by ambulance and neither took any further part in proceedings.

Later it was revealed that Viktor Bergström had suffered just severe bruising whilst Grajczonek had been unconscious but was allowed to travel home later. In the re-run Paul Cooper, who had been third in the original running, raced away to keep the Tigers two points to the good whilst heat 9 saw the Scorpions split the Tigers for another drawn heat.

The match was finally level after heat 10 when Richard Hall scorched away to victory whilst Ben Powell lost his battle to Joel Parsons after they had virtually been neck and neck for nearly two laps. It still gave the Scorpions a 4-2 and the match was beautifully balanced at 30-30.

Sadly the Tigers registered their third and final 5-1 of the night in heat 12 but the Scorpions hit back, with one of their own, through Carl Wilkinson and Richard Hall in heat 13 to tie the match up once again. Hall's pass of Cooper on the third lap was of the highest order and the heat result certainly gave Scorpions' fans hope of snatching a victory.

Unfortunately Ben Powell lost another great battle with Parsons in heat 14 whilst Hughes kept Emiliano Sanchez at the back to give the Tigers a 43-41 advantage going into the last race. Unsurprisingly the Scorpions nominated Carl Wilkinson and Richard Hall, the pairing that had done so well just two races earlier whilst Sheffield used Andre Compton and Joel Parsons.

The Tigers won the toss for gate positions and they put it to full use by leading from the tapes. With Compton pulling away the Scorpions set about Parsons. Carl Wilkinson exchanged positions with him for a couple of laps before pulling clear but there wasn't enough time for Richard Hall to join him. It would have been immaterial as Compton won well and for the third time this season the Tigers had edged out the Scorpions on their own track.

After the meeting a disconsolate Rob Godfrey (Scunthorpe Promoter) said "That's life. We were beaten by the better team and this has seriously hampered our hopes to be in a picking position in the Young Shield.

That is so disappointing but we have to pick ourselves up, go to Newcastle and get three points there and look at doing something at either Reading or Sheffield" whilst Carl Wilkinson added "It was a good race meeting, some hard racing but just not the result we wanted. My first couple of rides there was a lot of chopping and changing in the turns. I ended up on the outside in my first ride so I was relegated to last and then in my next one the Sheffield pair did some proper team-riding and boxed me out. We then made a few changes and after a bit of head-scratching we started to make some starts and claw some points back". When asked about Sunday's important meeting at Newcastle he added "We've got high hopes for Sunday, the whole team has. We went and beat them before and we want to do it again. We want to be in the Young Shield to give us a few extra meetings at the end of the season".

Meanwhile Ben Powell wasn't completely happy with top scoring on the night "I was a bit disappointed with one of my heats when we kept getting a restart. It was so dry all the way to the turn that even after three attempts we couldn't get it right and the last race I was really disappointed to lose to Joel. He and I have had a few big races like that and I was disappointed to lose to him today. We're starting to get it set-up for when it is slick here at Scunthorpe. The first couple of meetings it was grippy and we got the set-up for that but then it went slick and it took a couple of meetings to get our heads around that. We got a good set-up in my last ride against the Isle of Wight and we started with that tonight. I'm also changing to a JHR frame and I'm sure that will help too."

"We now go to Newcastle on Sunday. It's going to be good to go back there. I've got all the set-ups written down for that after my stint there earlier in the season. It will be interesting to see the reception we get but we are looking forward to going there. I've also got a good sponsor in Newcastle so it will be good to ride for them again".

After Sunday's meeting at Newcastle (17th August, start time 6.30pm) the Scorpions are next in action, along with the Conference League Saints side, in a double-header meeting on Bank Holiday Monday (25th August, start time 3pm). First of all the Scorpions take on the Glasgow Tigers (complete with Shane Parker and Josh Grajczonek) before the Saints take on the old enemy, the Plymouth Devils, in a crucial Conference League meeting.

Full scorers:
Scunthorpe Scorpions 43 – Richard Hall 7+2 (5 rides), Viktor Bergström 4 (2), Magnus Karlsson 6+2 (4), Emiliano Sanchez 4+1 (4), Carl Wilkinson 8 (5), Byron Bekker 4+2 (4), Ben Powell 10+1 (6)
Sheffield Tigers 47 – Paul Cooper 8+1 (5 rides), Andre Compton 12+1 (6), Joel Parsons 11+1 (6), Ben Wilson 9 (5), Kyle Hughes 1 (5), Josh Grajczonek 6 (3)
1 Cooper, Parsons, Bergström, Hall, 57.62 (1-5)

2 Grajczonek, Powell, Bekker, Hughes, 59.12 (3-3) (4-8)

3 Parsons, Compton, Karlsson, Sanchez (fell, remounted), 59.70 (1-5) (5-13)

4 Grajczonek, Powell, Wilson, Wilkinson, 60.09 (2-4) (7-17)

5 Sanchez, Karlsson, Compton, Cooper, 60.18 (5-1) (12-18)

6 Bergström, Hall, Wilson, Hughes (retired), 59.43 (5-1) (17-19)

7 Compton, Wilkinson, Bekker, Parsons (excluded, unfair riding),
no time (3-3) (20-22)

8 Cooper, Bekker, Powell, Bergström (fell, non starter in re-run),
Grajczonek (fell, excluded), 59.68 (3-3) (23-25)

9 Wilson, Karlsson, Sanchez, Hughes, 59.75 (3-3) (26-28)

10 Hall, Parsons, Powell, Compton, 59.23 (4-2) (30-30)

11 Wilson, Cooper, Wilkinson, Bekker, 60.18 (1-5) (31-35)

12 Compton, Powell, Karlsson, Hughes (retired), 59.43 (3-3) (34-38)

13 Wilkinson, Hall, Wilson, Cooper, 59.92 (5-1) (39-39)

14 Parsons, Powell, Hughes, Sanchez, 60.73 (2-4) (41-43)

15 Compton, Wilkinson, Parsons, Hall, 58.86 (2-4) (43-47)