TIGERS team boss Simon Stead admitted that losing top two Kyle Howarth and Charles Wright left their KO Cup dream in tatters.

Scunthorpe won 56-34 at the Eddie Wright Raceway last night, sending Tigers out by 10 points on aggregate 95-85.

With Howarth and Wright absent through injury, the visitors struggled as guests Ty Proctor and Richie Worrall scored just eight points between them.

Stead admitted: “It’s been a tough week for us losing Kyle and Charles. It’s fairly obviously where we were lacking tonight.

“To lose our top two in less than seven days has obviously floored us. We had just reshuffled the side and we all felt confident after beating Glasgow last week.

“Obviously this is a setback but we now have no alternative to concentrate on retaining the league title. It will be difficult but I think the changes we’ve made are excellent.

“The one silver lining was the performance of Broc Nicol, who was outstanding to score 11 points in his first meeting at Scunthorpe.

“He’s had a hugely positive impact on the strength of the team and once we’re back at full strength I feel we can be a force.”

Tigers trailed by just two points after four races thanks to strong wins in Heats 3 and 4 from Nicol and Proctor.

But suddenly the Scorpions stung in action. Two successive 5-1s in Heats 5 and 6 suddenly had the Tigers toiling and 10 behind, and just two ahead on aggregate.

Nicol picked up his second win and Tigers appeared to have weathered the storm. But an engine failure for Lasse Bjerre while leading Heat 10 was a massive setback.

That seemed to galvanise Scunthorpe and two more 5-1s put them in control of the tie after Worrall crashed out of Heat 11.

The excellent Jake Allen beat Nicol from the back on the second lap and another 4-2 meant that Tigers were out of the Cup.

SCUNTHORPE 56: Rory Schlein 14+1, Jake Allen 12, Dimitri Berge 11+3, Gino Manzares 10+1, Josh Auty 9+2, Danny Phillips 0, Jason Garrity r/r.

SHEFFIELD 34: Broc Nicol 11, Lasse Bjerre 7+2, Ty Proctor 7, Todd Kurtz 4, James Shanes 3, Georgie Wood 1, Richie Worrall 1.
Scunthorpe win 95-85 on aggregate