Birmingham slipped to a frustrating 48-41 Premier Trophy defeat at home to powerhouse Scunthorpe.

The BRC Roofing Brummies had skipper Jason Lyons struggling for form on a rare off-night and lost points at vital stages in the meeting.

Birmingham started well and were 12-6 up after three heats but it was always likely to be a close contest.

Richard Sweetman and Ludvig Lindgren were impressive racewinners early on, but former Wolves star Magnus Karlsson showed his liking of the Perry Barr track with a string of superb rides.

Home fans were thrilled to see Robert Ksiezak pull off a fine win in Heat 5 for another maximum with Lindgren, who pulled off a stunning move on former Great Britain star David Howe.

Karlsson inspired Scunthorpe’s fightback with a win in Heat 9 which also saw Ksiezak fall – thankfully he was able to get off the track quickly and allow the race to continue.

When Karlsson and Howe teamed up for a Heat 13 maximum, it put the visitors in control at the perfect time in the meeting for them.

Going into Heat 15, Scunthorpe were favourites with a 43-40 lead after Lindgren’s costly fall in the previous race.

Karlsson had the final word by completing his maximum, as Howe rounded Tomasz Piszcz superbly for a Scunthorpe 5-1 to hand them all four Trophy points.

Birmingham: Tomasz Piszcz 9, Richard Sweetman 8, Robert Ksiezak 7+1, Ludvig Lindgren 7+1, Ben Taylor 7, Jason Lyons 2, Marek Mroz 1.

Scunthorpe: Magnus Karlsson 15, David Howe 9+2, Viktor Bergstrom 7, Carl Wilkinson 5, Jerran Hart 5, Simon  Lambert 4+2, Byron Bekker 3+2.