REACTION: “It was good to take the aggregate bonus point and make sure we’ve still scored points from every league meeting.”

MONARCH Oxford Cheetahs slipped to their first league defeat of the season in the Cab Direct Championship at Redcar last night (Friday), with a 42-48 loss at the ECCO Arena, but stretched their lead at the top of the table to nine points, after taking the aggregate bonus point by 94-86.

Cheetahs went into the meeting looking for a straight 11th league victory, but were missing two heat leaders, with the injured Lewis Kerr replaced by Kyle Howarth, while skipper Scott Nicholls missed the meeting due to family circumstances and Dane Benjamin Basso took the booking in his place.

The scores swung one way and then the other in the opening four races. Sam Masters and Henry Atkins took a 4-2 in Heat 1, after Masters surged around Danyon Hume after a lap, while Jordan Jenkins and Howarth posted a 5-1 in Heat 3 which took Cheetahs 10-8 ahead before Redcar levelled the scores in Heat 4.

Masters again showed his mastery of the track in Heat 5, when he moved from third to first to win the race, passing Erik Riss on the third lap to take the lead.

Redcar edged ahead at 22-20, while Cheetahs suffered some misfortune when second-placed Henry Atkins fell in Heat 8, after his chain belt snapped. Atkins took a heavy fall and landed on his back. He didn’t take his final outing in Heat 11 but should be fine for Wednesday’s home meeting against Scunthorpe. In the re-run, Cameron Heeps battled past Luke Harrison and challenged Hume for the lead, but Bears pulled further away with a 4-2.

The next three races were shared, while both Howarth and Jenkins battled past Hume to finish second and third in Heat 10, and Heeps kept Redcar skipper Charles Wright behind for almost three laps in Heat 11, before Wright surged through into third. The latter race also saw Masters make it three wins out of three.

Heat 12 saw Redcar stretch their lead to eight points with a 5-1, while Heat 13 saw a highly unsatisfactory start. There was movement from Danny King, and Masters and then King touched the tapes. Despite King moving first, it was Masters who gained the exclusion, while King escaped with a warning. Oxford team manager Peter Schroeck’s protests fell on deaf ears. Basso won the re-run – his third race-win of the meeting – while Masters as stuck at the back after starting from a 15-metre penalty.

Howarth came into Heat 14 as a tactical substitute. Jason Edwards bustled into second place, but a brilliant surge around the outside from Jenkins at the start of the second lap took him from third to first to join Howarth for a 5-1 that took the meeting to a last-heat decider and made sure of the aggregate bonus point.

In the final race, Cheetahs needed a 5-1 to force a Superheat. After a close second bend, King surged ahead. Masters and Basso were then engaged in a battle for the minor positions with Wright, with Masters eventually gaining second, while Bears ended with a 4-2 that clinched a six-point win.

Masters and Basso both scored 11 for Cheetahs, while Howarth (9+2) and Jenkins (7+1) also scored well. Heeps put in a lot of effort for a three-point tally, while Atkins had King well beaten for third place in Heat 1 before King pulled out of the race.

Jordan Jenkins, recovered from his horror crash at Oxford last week, said: “It’s good to be back racing. I’ve had two good meetings in two nights – I also scored good points (9+2) for Peterborough when they won at King’s Lynn on Thursday night. I’m happy with my progress throughout this year.

“I started with a good win tonight. Jason (Edwards) was rolling at the tapes in my second ride and I got caught out at the tapes, but we moved on from that, and I had some good speed for the whole night.

“I made a decent start in Heat 14 but made a slight mistake in the first corner and Jason got through. I knew the only way I could seal the deal was by heading wide and hitting the dirt and it worked and we took the 5-1. It was good to take the aggregate bonus point and make sure we’ve still scored points from every league meeting.”

Team manager Peter Schroeck said: “We’d be arrogant to think we can go everywhere and win every meeting. We have the ability to win each meeting, and we’ll head into each meeting trying to win it, but there are going to be occasions where we need to settle for something else and tonight it was the bonus point. We pushed Redcar all the way and I’m happy with what we’ve done tonight. Redcar are strong at home and we’ve got to respect that.

“It’s never the easiest to bring guests into the line-up, with both Benjamin and Kyle did a good job for us today and fitted in with what we’re doing. Sometimes you can bring in outsiders and it doesn’t quite work. But they settled right in, and I’d happily use either of them again.

“I wasn’t very happy with the decision in Heat 13, where the rider in red clearly moved first, dragged Sam into the tapes, and then it’s Sam who is excluded, while Danny King escaped with a warning. It seems a bizarre situation.

“Henry is a little second hand after his fall – he hit the ground quite hard. But he’ll be okay for Wednesday. While might not have won the meeting, but we’ve come out of it continuing to collect league points, and we still have the momentum heading into the home meeting against Scunthorpe on Wednesday.”

Redcar Bears 48: Danny King 10, Danyon Hume 6+1, Connor Bailey 7+1, Erik Riss 3+1, Charles Wright 9+2, Jason Edwards 8+2, Luke Harrison 5.

Monarch Oxford Cheetahs 42: Sam Masters 11, Henry Atkins 1, Kyle Howarth 9+2, Jordan Jenkins 7+1, Benjamin Basso 11, Cameron Heeps 3, Ryan Kinsley 0.

PHOTO: Jordan Jenkins scored 7+1 and helped clinch the aggregate bonus point by winning Heat 14 (PIC: LES AUBREY)