RYAN DOUGLAS admits it “hasn’t sunk in yet” after ending his Scunthorpe career with KO Cup glory.
The Australian rounded off a sensational season of Cab Direct Championship form with a winner’s medal after the Scorpions beat Poole on aggregate at Wimborne Road.
Douglas, 30, had already revealed he was leaving the club and it was an emotional way to end his stay.
He said: “It’s a great feeling and I don’t think it has sunk in yet that we’ve managed to do that against a great team like Poole.
“I’m obviously very happy. I’ve been at Scunthorpe for on and off a decade and never had won anything.
“I know how much it means to Rob Godfrey and the fans. I’m absolutely over the moon to give that to them.”
Yet the night had begun in the worst possible way for the Aussie as he tangled with Anders Rowe in the opening heat.
Douglas ended up in a heap in the airfence and covered in wet shale. But he went on to still produce paid 11 in a potent partnership with the flying Simon Lambert.
He added: “The conditions were pretty tough because there’s been a lot of rain around for the last week.
“I think maybe that played into our hands a bit as a leveller. They didn’t have their usual home track advantage.
“But it was a full team performance. We needed to do that because they are a strong team all the way through. To walk away with the win, we are all stoked.
“It was one of nights I was happy to sit behind Simon for 5-1s. I was just trying to do my job for the team. Me getting second places behind him was just as good. I was happy with my performance and stoked for Simon.
“I was not feeling great after the Heat 1 crash. I was head to toe black with shale. I copped a bit of a knock as well.
“I don’t like that first bend at Poole, I’ve had a few accidents there. I remember walking the track before the meeting and there was a big slop pile around the fence and we joked we don’t want to end up in that. It took me about five seconds of the meeting and I was in it!
“It was one of those nights where you have to get on with it. Once we got that 5-1 in Heat 1 I felt we could do it.”
Words by Holeshot Media.
Images by Taylor Lanning.