The Buxton Hitmen fell to their first defeat of their National League campaign as they were defeated 39-51 by the Scunthorpe Saints in their National League clash on Sunday.
The Hitmen were still without British Under 15 Champion Jason Garrity and with last week’s meeting against King’s Lynn being postponed they went into the meeting a little race rusty. The visitors made a late change to their line-up with Simon Lambert, who currently averages over five-and-a-half in the Premier League, coming in for rookie Ashley Morris.
Buxton opened up with two race wins but Scunthorpe shared the points by taking second and third. Former Redcar man Scott James made the best start in Heat 3 while behind him team mate Jade Mudgway cut back under Scunthorpe’s Byron Bekker to move into second place. Bekker showed that his Premier League experience of last year and this had made him a better rider by going around Mudgway as the rider rounded the final turn on the first lap. Buxton’s New Zealander didn’t give in and fought back with the two riders colliding on the fourth turn of the second lap as Mudgway tried to go inside Bekker. The South African held of the challenge of the Hitman as the home side took a two-point lead.
The following race was drawn before Heat 5 was stopped when Adam Wrathall clipped Mudgway’s back wheel on the first turn and fell, the Scunthorpe man being excluded. In the re-run Lambert, formerly with King’s Lynn and now with the Scunthorpe Scorpions in the Premier league, took the lead and James and Mudgway could only follow him home as the lead stayed at two. Three more drawn heats followed as the Hitmen just kept ahead.
The home side took maximum points in Heat 9 as Mudgway and James saw off the challenge of Richardson on the first turn with the New Zealander going on to win comfortably. Behind him James came under a little pressure but never looked like getting passed and the 5-1 opened up the gap to six.
That didn’t last long as Scunthorpe picked up a 5-1 in Heat 10 and a 4-2 in the next race levelled the scores. The visitors then seized the initiative as Mudgway and Bekker continued to entertain with their battles in Heat 12. Mudgway made the start and Bekker again went for the blast around the outside on the fourth turn. They were neck-and-neck as they hit the first turn but the tussle ended there as Mudgway fell before remounting. This handed second to Sarjeant and Scunthorpe now led by four.
Another 5-1 to the Saints had virtually assured them of the win and this was confirmed when James didn’t move when the tapes rose on the penultimate race. Serious engine problems meant that despite Cook wining the race, the Scunthorpe pair cruised round to draw the heat 3-3 and take the victory. A maximum in Heat 15 after Buxton Number 1 Lee Smethills was excluded meant the visitors collected maximum points.
Scorers :
Buxton – L Smethills 7, D Hodgson 0, J Mudgway 5+1, S James 7+1, G Isherwood 7+1, C Cook 11, L Dallaway 3+2.
Scunthorpe – S Lambert 13+1, A Wrathall 2+1, B Bekker 14, R Franklin 4+1, S Richardson 7+2, J Sarjeant 10+2, K Howarth 1+1.
