SHEFFIELD saw their fine start to the season ended by a heavy home defeat at the hands of Scunthorpe in the Premier League Cup tonight.

Former favourite Josh Auty returned to haunt the Tigers with a bumper 14-point haul and exciting Australian prospect Ryan Douglas roared into double-figures as the Scorpions turned the Northern Group formbook upside down by grabbing all four available points.

Sheffield had triumphed in the reverse fixture on March 30, but their hopes of a double-success were dashed on a night when they provided only three heat winners.

They also saw both their attempted tactical rides fail to pay off as top-scorer Simon Stead (heat six) and Leigh Lanham (heat nine) could only come home in second spot when chasing double-points.

A 5-1 from veteran reserve Andre Compton and Adam Roynon in heat 11 did briefly give the Owlerton faithful hope of a dramatic comeback, but Scunthorpe were not about to surrender their advantage as they clinched victory with a couple of heats to spare.

Stead did deny Auty a maximum by taking the spoils in the finale to provide a rare source of cheer on a difficult night.


Tigers team chief Joe Screen admitted: “It was a bit of a nightmare really as we had people struggling with bike problems, but the be all and end all is that we were beaten by a better team who attacked the track a bit more than we did.

“Scunthorpe have put a very good team together and Ryan Douglas looks like being something special at reserve.”

Sheffield stay second in the Northern Group but are now four points behind Redcar Bears, who beat Newcastle Diamonds 55-35 tonight.

Screen’s side will be looking to bounce back when they travel to Newcastle on Sunday (April 14).

SHEFFIELD: Simon Stead 12, Leigh Lanham 9, Adam Roynon 8+1, Andre Compton 7, Simon Nielsen 3+1, Taylor Poole 1+1, Josh Bates 1+1.

SCUNTHORPE: Josh Auty 14, Ryan Douglas 10, Claus Vissing (guest) 8, David Howe 7+2, Thomas Jorgensen 7, Ashley Birks 6+1, Matt Williamson 1.