REACTION: “I couldn’t be any happier with my night.”

HENRY ATKINS, one of the last-heat heroes for his side, was delighted as Oxford Chargers took an exciting 48-41 victory over Belle Vue Colts at Sandy Lane last night (Wednesday) in an incident-packed meeting.

The result keeps Chargers on course for the National League play-offs, as they displaced Colts in third place in the table.

Oxford were using rider replacement for Nathan Stoneman, who broke his shoulder-blade at Berwick on Saturday night. Both injured Chargers, Stoneman and Luke Killeen, were present last night and giving encouragement to their team-mates.

Chargers flew into a 10-2 lead after two races, following 5-1s in the opening two races. Skipper Jordan Jenkins missed the gate in Heat 1 but wasted no time in flying between the Colts to join Henry Atkins for a maximum. Colts’ Freddy Hodder fell while leading Heat 2, as Aaron Butcher and Jacob Clouting took another 5-1.

But Colts soon showed it was going to be a contest. Experienced Adam Roynon was the perfect guest for Colts and he won both Heats 3 and 5, taking a 5-1 with Jack Smith in the latter race that pegged Chargers’ lead back to just two points.

Jenkins and Atkins took another 5-1 in Heat 6, but Hodder joined Roynon for a 5-1 in Heat 7, as Colts again reduced the gap to two.

Clouting was excluded from Heat 8 for touching the tapes, while the re-run saw Atkins defeat Smith. Butcher, the reserve replacement for Clouting, was set for third, but left a gap on the final bend and Hodder snatched the verdict.

There was an even closer finish in Heat 9. Jody Scott and Sam Hagon held a 5-1 for almost the whole race, but Hagon seemed unaware that Mulford was still close and was pipped to the line in a photo finish for second place. Nevertheless, Charges still took a 4-2, with Scott taking an excellent race victory.

Heat 10 brought out the battle of the big guns. Atkins was first to show, before Roynon moved past into the lead on the back straight. But Jenkins produced a terrific move and pushed inside Roynon on the inside on the opening bends of the second lap, as Chargers moved six in front with another 4-2.

The first race after the interval, in Heat 11, saw sharp starts for Colts from Smith and Mulford. Jenkins was pressing Mulford for second place, when the Colt went wide on the fourth bend of the second lap. Jenkins roared through, as did Butcher, as Mulford could not correct his mistake, clattered the outside kickboard and then pulled off with damage to his bike, as the race was shared 3-3.

Heat 12 saw more rapid gates from the Colts, and Roynon and Hodder posted a 5-1 over Hagon and Clouting.

In Heat 13, Jenkins and Atkins were on a crucial 5-1 until Jenkins suffered an engine failure at the start of the final lap, with the Oxford skipper clearly gutted. There was further drama as Mulford finished the four laps in third place, but was then excluded, since he had lost part of his silencer during the race. The race therefore ended as a 3-2 to Chargers, who now led by three points.

Heat 14 was halted after Hodder got into difficulties at the back and could not clear the track. Team-mate Archie Freeman had been leading the time at the time of stoppage and Freeman made another fast start to win the re-run ahead of Scott and Butcher, as the meeting went to a last-heat decider.

Just before the tapes rose on the decisive Heat 15, it was clear than Roynon off the outside gate had a problem. The tapes rose with him stranded on the start-line. Jenkins made the quickest getaway, while Atkins flew past Smith on the second turn and then the two Chargers team rode to a match-winning 5-1 that denied Belle Vue a losing bonus point from the meeting.

Henry Atkins top scored for Chargers with 15+1, with four wins and one paid win, only dropping points to Adam Roynon in Heat 10. Atkins said: “It was getting a bit close in the middle of the meeting, so we had a chat, because we knew we needed a few more points. But we got the victory and three big points and now we sit in a solid third position in the league.

“Before some of my races, both Jason (Crump) and Peter (Schroeck) said: ‘We need you to do well here’, so I knew I had to make a decent gate and post a 5-1 with Jordan. We did that a few times; on a couple of times we didn’t, so we made sure we did it in the final race to get the win, which is the main thing.

“It’s a big confidence booster for me to win both Heats 13 and 15, because those are big races. In one race just before that (Heat 10), it didn’t go quite right, so we made some changes to the bike and it was pulling well for the last two races. I couldn’t be any happier with my night.”

Oxford Chargers 48: Jordan Jenkins 12+2, Henry Atkins 15+1, Sam Hagon 6, Jody Scott 8+1, Nathan Stoneman R/R, Arran Butcher 5+2, Jacob Clouting 2+1.

Belle Vue Colts 41: Jack Smith 11+1, Harry McGurk R/R, Adam Roynon 14, Sam McGurk 0, Jake Mulford 6, Archie Freeman 4, Freddy Hodder 6+3.

* THE prestigious Championship Pairs takes place at Cowley on Friday evening at 7.30pm. Tickets are selling fast for the showpiece event, which takes place on the eve of the British Grand Prix at Cardiff, and fans are urged to order their tickets as soon as possible at www.oxfordspeedway.club/tickets to avoid disappointment.

PHOTO: Steve Edmunds.