REACTION: “There were a lot of positives to take.”

TEAM MANAGER Peter Schroeck has reflected further on the opening meeting of the season for Monarch Oxford Cheetahs, when they were out of the luck and lost 43-46 at Sandy Lane to Poole Pirates last night (Wednesday), despite a brilliant 15-point full maximum from skipper Scott Nicholls.

The clash was the first-ever meeting in a brand-new competition, the BSN Series, and a couple of pieces of bad luck went against Cheetahs and proved decisive.

The Oxford vs Swindon challenge meeting the previous week had been postponed due to the weather, and there were concerns that this fixture could also go the same way. With the threat of rain and light drizzle arriving during the meeting, it was completed before 9pm and much credit to the Oxford promotion on the way they got on with proceedings to ensure the evening’s racing could be completed in front of a bumper crowd.

Cheetahs took the lead with a 5-1 from new No 1 Sam Masters and Cameron Heeps in Heat 1, but they had a major slice of misfortune in Heat 4. Nicholls overhauled Adam Roynon for second place at the end of the opening lap, while 17-year-old Luke Killeen had a seemingly uncatchable lead up front. But Killeen blew his engine at the start of the third lap and Pirates took a share of the spoils, while Killeen was forced to swap to his spare machine for the rest of the evening.

Oxford maintained a narrow lead across the following races, but the major turning point occurred in Heat 9. The start looked a little uneven, but it was allowed to continue with Pirates’ duo of Kyle Newman and Richard Lawson up front. Jordan Jenkins fell on the apex of the third and fourth bends of the opening lap, but sportingly cleared the track to allow the race to continue. Meanwhile, third-placed Kerr was pushing hard, but he took a heavy tumble in a similar place to Jenkins on the third lap and he had no chance to remount for a point, as Pirates took a 5-0 to take the lead for the first time at 28-25.

A run of 3-3 shared races followed, with Cheetahs providing the heat winners, but Pirates filling the minor places. Heeps continued his impressive evening to win Heat 10, but that it was Masters’ first-ever competitive meeting at Sandy Lane started to tell as he trailed in last behind the Cook brothers.

In Heat 11, Killeen was in third, but fell challenging for second place, and the chance for a heat advantage was lost. In the next race, Henry Atkins battled past Ben Cook in third place, but Cook regained the position and then Atkins came in grief later in the race trying to gain the position back.

The best race of the evening came in Heat 13. Nicholls showed his class as he fended off Lawson early on, then set off after Steve Worrall. On the final lap, Nicholls surged inside Worrall in terrific style to take his fourth race of the evening. Behind them, Masters challenged Lawson, but lost out, as Pirates kept their three-point advantage.

Pirates clinched victory with a 4-2 in Heat 14, despite a much-improved ride by Jenkins, while Nicholls completed a classy maximum in Heat 15. Kerr refused to give up and stole third place from Worrall on the final bend.

In all, Cheetahs provided 10 out of 15 heat-winners, but the difference was Pirates scored heat advantages in four of the five races where a Pirate took the chequered flag. Newman, who rode for Cheetahs at the start of 2022, top-scored for Pirates with paid 14 from six rides at reserve.

Speaking post-meeting, Peter Schroeck said: “There are a lot of positives to take. We started off on the right foot, but then Luke Killeen blew up his engine while in front and had to jump on his other bike, which wasn’t quite suited for this track. He’s a two-point rider, but tonight he could have ended up with five or six points, or even more than that, had he been able to stay on his first bike.

“Of course, our challenge match against Swindon last week was rained off, and a couple of our lads hadn’t raced this year until tonight. Henry (Atkins) hadn’t, neither had Cameron (Heeps), yet Cam was one of our leading lights and scored paid nine. Jordan (Jenkins) started the meeting slowly, but he had a much better ride in his last one that he can take forward.

“Scott (Nicholls) is a special rider and he has started this year on fire – he was absolutely brilliant tonight, whether he gated out in front or not. Lewi (Kerr) was out there attacking the track, even though it got a bit slick for him towards the end of the evening. Considering the overcast day and the arrival of some rain during the meeting, the track held up very well and that bodes very well.

“Sam (Masters) was very apologetic to the fans when he spoke on the mic after the meeting, because he expects a lot more of himself. Sam is a class act wherever he goes, and we know it’s highly unlikely he’ll only score six again around Oxford for the rest of the season, because he’s already looking into what he can do differently. We don’t have any worries with Sam, because he’ll always push himself on.

“The 5-0 killed us tonight. It placed Poole in front and made the final scoreline look worse than it was. One part of me feels gutted, because I want to win, and especially to win against Poole. But tt’s too early in the season to analyse the whole meeting in detail, and instead we’ll focus on the positives, because I believe we’re on the right track. 

“Aggregate points are going to be a big thing this year, and we haven’t yet lost the aggregate point to Poole by any means – we can easily overcome those three points when we’re down there on Friday evening. Scott likes it down there, as do both Sam and Lewi. I don’t think Poole had even had a practice on their track this year, so maybe we can catch them out, the same they did to us tonight. We’re going there with a positive attitude.”

Oxford Cheetahs 43: Sam Masters 6, Cameron Heeps 8+1, Lewis Kerr 9, Jordan Jenkins 2, Scott Nicholls 15, Henry Atkins 1+1, Luke Killeen 2.

Poole Pirates 46: Steve Worrall 5, Anders Rowe 4+1, Ben Cook 8+1, Zach Cook 6+2, Richard Lawson 9+2, Kyle Newman 13+1, Adam Roynon 1+1.

PHOTO: The bumps for maximum man Scott Nicholls (pic: Steve Edmunds)