PREVIEW: Cheetahs face tough test against Scunthorpe

MONARCH Oxford Cheetahs are seeking to maintain their excellent home form in a Cab Direct Championship league fixture against Scunthorpe Scorpions at Oxford Stadium on Wednesday evening (7.30pm) where something has to give.

Cheetahs won their all five of their previous meetings at Sandy Lane in 2024, while their two home fixtures in the Cab Direct Championship have resulted in emphatic victories over Redcar (53-36) and Edinburgh (54-36).

Scunthorpe are currently in fine form, with a run of five successive victories. Scorpions have a 100% record from three Cab Direct Championship meetings, including away wins at Redcar and Berwick (both by 46-44).

With Henry Atkins still out with a broken index finger, the publication of the June Green Sheet averages sees Luke Killeen move up to the No 2 spot and Atkins switch to No 7. With rider replacement no longer an option for Atkins, Cheetahs have booked Plymouth’s Jacob Hook as a guest replacement.

Oxford team manager Peter Schroeck said: “Scunthorpe are a good team and we need to be on our guard. We would like to be the first team to defeat them in the Cab Direct Championship.

“Scunthorpe have now got Michael Palm Toft injured and they are using rider replacement, but you never know how that is going to play out. Sometimes if the riders taking the extra rides can themselves on a bit of a run, it can actually make them stronger, while we know how well Connor Mountain can go around Oxford from a couple of weeks ago.

“But all we can do is concentrate on our own performance. Cheetahs’ home form has been very good in the last couple of meetings, although we could do with being on the ball right from the start of a meeting and make life a bit easier for ourselves later in the evening.

“As usual, while the first priority is to win the meeting, we also want to build up a bit of a margin to take to Scunthorpe next week, to help us with the aggregate bonus point.

“Henry is still at least a few weeks away from returning and this month, with him now at reserve, guests are the only option. We’ve booked Jacob Hook who I believe is a good replacement. We still have Ashton (Boughen) down at reserve and he’s on a bit of a high at the moment, he did superbly well to finish third in British Under-21 Championship at Glasgow on Sunday, despite being one of the youngest riders in the line-up. I believe we will have plenty of strength at reserve on Wednesday.

“It’s going to be a terrific night of speedway between two sides who could well both feature in the play-offs come the end of the season.”

Tickets are already on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

Admission is available at the early bird price of £20 for all adults, which increases to £22 on Race Day. All under-16s go free. A reminder that Oxford Speedway is online ticket sales only – tickets remain on sale on the website until the start-time of the meeting.

Supporters are reminded to bring back the programme and insert combination that serves both meetings this week and save themselves £3. Fresh programmes – which will include the insert – will still be on sale on Wednesday evening for £3.

Please note that there is no live stream for this meeting.

Teams:

Monarch Oxford Cheetahs: Sam Masters, Luke Killeen, Jordan Jenkins, Cameron Heeps, Scott Nicholls (C), Ashton Boughen, Jacob Hook (G).

Ellie Rose Travel Scunthorpe Scorpions: Kyle Howarth, Michael Palm Toft R/R, Simon Lambert (C), Connor Mountain, Jake Allen, Nathan Ablitt, Luke Harrison.

PHOTO: Ashton Boughen and Scott Nicholls on a 5-1 (pic: Steve Edmunds)