COVENTRY Storm raced to their biggest-ever win at National League level by defeating Scunthorpe 71-18 at Brandon on Friday.
The City Gearboxes Storm had five unbeaten riders at the end of what was always expected to be a one-sided encounter against a Stags team very much built around inexperienced riders for development purposes.
But from a Coventry perspective, it was a relief to see the completion of a speedway meeting at the venue after the track issues which have dogged the first fortnight of the campaign.
Skipper James Sarjeant and Oliver Greenwood both eased to four-ride maximums with Stefan Nielsen paid for the full house after following Sarjeant home in Heat 13.
Dan Greenwood carded five unbeaten rides including a win in Heat 15, whilst reserve Ryan Terry-Daley achieved the notable distinction of recording a paid win in each of his five outings.
Luke Crang made a spectacular start to the meeting, albeit not in the way he would have intended, as he reared going into the first bend of Heat 1 and fell, with his machine thankfully avoiding the other riders.
That looked set to hand the Stags a 3-3 in the re-run, but unlucky former Bees mascot Conor Dywer spun and fell on the fourth bend, sustaining a broken collarbone in the process.
Following that 3-2, the meeting was largely a procession of 5-1s although there were some promising signs from inexperienced reserve Ryan MacDonald who attacked the track well and gained a genuine second place ahead of Martin Knuckey in Heat 4.
Terry-Daley said: “It was good to get back on the bike and get some decent rides in, and today it seemed to work well.
“The Scunthorpe team are all three-pointers but I’m a three-pointer as well, so they’re still a team and we still have to beat them.
“It’s unusual for me to score a maximum, it would be nice for it to be the first of many! We’ve got a good team here, we all get on with each other and if you’re not having fun you shouldn’t be riding.â€
CITY GEARBOXES STORM 71: Dan Greenwood 12+3, James Sarjeant 12, Oliver Greenwood 12, Stefan Nielsen 11+1, Ryan Terry-Daley 10+5, Luke Crang 7+2, Martin Knuckey 7+1.
SCUNTHORPE 18: Steve Jones 6, Ryan MacDonald 5, Danno Verge 3, Adam Kirby 3, Liam Sanderson 1, Sam Woods 0, Conor Dwyer 0.
COVENTRY 71 Stefan Nielsen 3 3 3 2* = 11+1 Luke Crang X 2* 3 2* = 7+2 Oliver Greenwood 3 3 3 3 = 12 Dan Greenwood 2* 2* 2* 3 3 = 12+3 James Sarjeant 3 3 3 3 = 12 Ryan Terry-Daley 2* 2* 2* 2* 2* = 10+5 Martin Knuckey 3 1 2* 1 = 7+1
SCUNTHORPE 18 Steve Jones 2 1 1 1 1 = 6 Conor Dwyer X = 0 Danno Verge 0 F 1 2 0 = 3 Adam Kirby 1 1 0 1 = 3 Sam Woods M 0 0 0 = 0 Liam Sanderson 0 0 1 0 0 0 = 1 Ryan MacDonald 1 2 0 1 1 0 = 5
