REPORT: Spires lose out at Leicester
OXS Oxford Spires experienced a difficult evening, slipping to a 36-54 defeat in a televised fixture in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership at Leicester last night (Monday).
Spires found themselves chasing from early on, after conceding two early 5-1s in Heats 1 and 3, and were ten points down after six races.
A brief respite saw Oxford peg back hold Lions for the next couple of races, while tactical substitute Rohan Tungate won Heat 9 and Chris Harris joined him for a 4-2, which reduced the arrears to eight points.
But Leicester killed the meeting as a contest with successive 5-1s in Heat 10 and 11. Spires only dropped two further points behind in the final four races, as Leicester ended the night with an 18-point margin.
While passing was at a premium at Leicester, Lions’ No 1 Max Fricke looked imperious whether he trapped or not and scored a paid maximum. Oxford’s Polish star Maciej Janowski came the closest to defeating the Australian, when he gave Fricke a run for his money on the opening laps of Heat 10, which saw the two riders vying for second place.
Spires provided five heat winners, while German Erik Riss top scored for Spires with 8+1, after winning Heats 5 and 8.
Oxford team manager Peter Schroeck said: “We were well short of what we wanted from tonight, but it was all about the starts. We just couldn’t get it right at the starts or on the first corners. The Leicester team were simply the better team tonight around their own track – we couldn’t match them.
“I can’t criticise our boys for effort, because they were all putting in their all, but we were left chasing them and also picked up too many last places.
“We stopped Leicester pulling away too much more at the end of the meeting, to give ourselves some chance of the aggregate bonus point.
“Our main aim next Monday when Leicester return to us and we host them at Oxford Stadium will be to make sure that we beat them on the night. It’s always important to bounce back after a tough result and that’s exactly what we will be looking at doing next Monday.”
The next meeting at Oxford Stadium is this Wednesday (May 29) at 7.30pm, when the Monarch Oxford Cheetahs entertain Edinburgh Monarchs in the Cab Direct Championship, while Spires host Leicester next Monday (June 3).
Tickets are already on sale for both meetings at https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/
Leicester Lions 54: Max Fricke 14+1, Richard Lawson 9+2, Sam Masters 9, Luke Becker 5+1, Ryan Douglas 8+1, Drew Kemp 6, Sam Hagon 3+3.
OXS Oxford Spires 36: Rohan Tungate 5, Erik Riss 8+1, Charles Wright 5, Maciej Janowski 5+1, Chris Harris 8, Craig Cook 4+1, Ashton Boughen 1+1.
PHOTO: Erik Riss top-scored for Spires at Leicester (pic: Les Aubrey)