REACTION: “It’s great riding for Oxford. I’m looking forward to the next one, to the rest of the season and also to next season. I just want to keep on learning and keep improving.”

MONARCH Oxford Cheetahs returned to the top of the Cab Direct Championship with a very convincing 59-31 win over the Plymouth Gladiators at Oxford Stadium last night (Friday). The cornerstone behind the victory was every Cheetah scoring, at least, paid eight points.

Heading into Chargers’ National League meeting at Leicester tonight (Saturday), both Oxford sides are, once more, top of their respective tables.

The only thing could have stopped Cheetahs last night was the weather, with one or two brief showers in the lead-up to the meeting. With dark clouds up above, the meeting was held at a quick pace to avoid the possibility of a call-off.

Oxford flew into a 9-3 lead after two races, with new signing Ashton Boughen winning his first-ever race for Cheetahs in Heat 2, just four days after his 16th birthday.

Plymouth took their only heat advantage of the night with a 4-2 in Heat 4, after Scott Nicholls suffered a third blown engine in recent weeks, in addition to the two that expired at Poole a fortnight ago.

But Cheetahs gained a heat advantage in seven races in succession and had all three points in the bag after Heat 11, at which point the score was 45-21.

Despite the lopsided scoreline, there was some fine racing on display. Henry Atkins gave Kyle Howarth a real run for his money in Heat 1, before the Plymouth No 1 took second place behind the imperious Sam Masters.

Jordan Jenkins produced two sublime speedway races to defeat Plymouth top guns Howarth and Richie Worrall.

In Heat 5, Lewis Kerr led all the way, but all eyes were on the battle for second place. Howarth twice passed Jenkins, but twice Jenkins burst past him on the entry to the third turn. The last move from the Cheetahs occurred on the final lap and gained a big cheer from another healthy Cowley crowd.

Four races later, in Heat 9, Jenkins again displayed he simply doesn’t know when he’s beaten. He lost the lead to Worrall after a small mistake on the fourth bend of the opening lap. But he tracked down the Plymouth rider and flew back around him with a lap remaining in a breathtaking move.

Both Masters (12) and Nicholls (8+1) suffered misfortune to prevent them collecting a maximum. In the case of the Australian, it was a tapes exclusion from Heat 13 – he took four untroubled wins in his other outings – while for Nicholls, it was the engine failure in Heat 4. Nicholls was taken wide by Howarth early in Heat 11 but flew past his opponent on the second lap.

Kerr (9) and Jenkins (8+2) were a very solid middle pairing, while Atkins (7+1) completed a successful night against his old club by heading tactical substitute Worrall all the way in Heat 10 to join Masters for a 5-1.

Cameron Heeps (8+2) enjoyed a cracking evening. He team-rode Boughen to a 5-1 in Heat 2, a compliment that was returned by Nicholls in Heat 7 who settled into second place behind Heeps. But the highlight of the Australian’s evening came in Heat 13. After the exclusion of Masters, Heeps popped out of the start behind Nicholls. He had Howarth and Worrall both on his tail but held them both off to join Nicholls for another 5-1.

Boughen (7+1) looked extremely impressive. He made some fast starts and led Worrall for a lap in Heat 4. He completed his evening by taking third place in Heat 14, despite losing his steel shoe during the race.

Speaking post-meeting, 16-year-old debutant Ashton Boughen said: “I had a few nerves heading into the meeting tonight, although a guest booking at Premiership level at Sheffield last night helped me.

“I had a few bike problems tonight. The bike was cutting in and out around the corners during my first three races, it did it in Heat 4 when Richie (Worrall) came past me. But we got that sorted out.

“In my last race, my steel shoe was dangling off, before it finally came completely off on the final lap.

“Paid eight in my first meeting for Oxford is more than I expected. I was aiming for five points. To get a win in my first race in the Championship in my first race was awesome.

“It’s great riding for Oxford. Peter (Schroeck, team manager) and the whole team helped me out tonight. Being part of a good team always means you get helped out a lot. A big thank you to Peter, my dad (Brad) and Wayne Parker, my mechanic tonight.

“I’m looking forward to the next one, to the rest of the season and also to next season. I just want to keep on learning and keep improving.”

Cheetahs collected all three league points available, since they also won the aggregate bonus point by 106-73.

Monarch Oxford Cheetahs 59: Sam Masters 12, Henry Atkins 7+1, Lewis Kerr 9, Jordan Jenkins 8+2, Scott Nicholls 8+1, Cameron Heeps 8+2, Ashton Boughen 7+1.

Plymouth Gladiators 31: Kyle Howarth 10, Max Perry 0, Ben Barker R/R, Jason Edwards 6+2, Richie Worrall 9, James Pearson 5, Ben Trigger 1.

PHOTO: Team huddle last night (PIC: STEVE EDMUNDS)