PREVIEW: Cheetahs out for revenge against Pirates in Cup Final
MONARCH Oxford Cheetahs are looking to finish their season in style in the Cab Direct Knockout Cup Final against Poole Pirates in two meetings over the forthcoming days – at Wimborne Road in Dorset on Wednesday and at Oxford Stadium on Thursday (both meetings start at 7.30pm).
Cheetahs lost out to Pirates in the Championship Grand Final, after a controversial second leg at Poole last Wednesday, which left Oxford counting the cost both in terms of the fitness of their riders and also in terms of damage to machinery. Cheetahs were attempting to win their first league championship in 23 years.
Oxford have been forced into two team changes this week. Luke Killeen is ruled out for 12 days under the concussion protocols, while Jody Scott is also feeling the effects of a collision with Vinnie Foord at Poole last week.
Cheetahs track four of their own riders and three guests in each meeting. Dan Gilkes will continue to cover for Jordan Jenkins, while Jack Smith will replace Killeen in both meetings. With Scott unavailable, Ben Trigger will guest for Adam Roynon (another injury victim) at Poole, while Connor Coles will ride in place of Roynon at Oxford.
On the other hand, Poole Pirates are at full strength. Pirates are seeking to complete the treble, having already won the Cab Direct Championship and the BSN Series.
It could be argued that Cheetahs are up against it, but they’ve already shown their fighting spirit in the Cab Direct Knockout Cup. At the quarter-final stage, they bounced back from a 12-point defeat at Glasgow to win 93-87 on aggregate after a superb second leg performance at Cowley.
In the semi-final against Redcar, Cheetahs travelled up to Teesside for the second leg without Jenkins and Cameron Heeps with a very limited selection of guests available that day. But they prevailed, with 17-year-old Ashton Boughen scoring a sensational 15-point full maximum at the ECCO Arena.
Oxford are seeking to win the Knockout Cup outright for the first time in 39 years. In 1985, Cheetahs defeated Ipswich by 79-76 in a classic final, after Simon Wigg and Troy Butler passed Jeremy Doncaster in the final race at Cowley. Cheetahs also shared the silverware with Cradley Heath in 1986, when the home leg was twice rained off and not completed after the away leg at Dudley Wood had ended in a 39-39 draw.
Oxford team manager Peter Schroeck said: “We can’t afford to dwell on the events of the Grand Final at Poole last week. It’s time to move on, because there’s still a competition that we can win this season – the Cab Direct Knockout Cup.
“We have been one of the best two teams in the Cab Direct Championship, and we firmly believe that we deserve something out of this season. The cup is the chance to do that and finish our season on a high.
“Of course, it’s not going to be easy. On paper, Poole could be seen as favourites. But many people had the Monarch Cheetahs down as favourites to win the league, after we won the first leg by 12 points. Speedway isn’t raced on paper and anything can happen – and we have the riders to do the job.
“We can again expect two legs of thrilling speedway in front of bumper and passionate crowds.
“The Oxford fans are a tremendous set of supporters, as they showed by their support for the GoFundMe page for Luke and Jody after the Supporters’ Club set that up. That’s already reached a fantastic amount and it will make such a big difference to two young riders who otherwise would have ended their season with a financial strain over their heads. We’d love to win the cup so that our brilliant fans have something to celebrate.”
Tickets are on the second leg at Oxford are on sale 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.
Season Passes are NOT valid on Thursday. The passes did not include progression in any competition and all 28 meetings (12 Spires, 11 Cheetahs and 5 Chargers) covered by the Ultimate Pass have all taken place.
Supporters are also urged to buy their tickets for the End Of Season Party at the Double Tree By Hilton Oxford Belfry a week on Friday (October 25) at 7pm. Ticket sales for the party close on Thursday at midday.
Teams for second leg at Oxford on Thursday:
Monarch Oxford Cheetahs: Sam Masters, Ashton Boughen, Cameron Heeps, Dan Gilkes (G), Scott Nicholls (C), Jack Smith (G), Connor Coles (G).
Poole Wessex Marine Pirates: Richard Lawson, Sam Hagon, Ben Cook (C), Zach Cook, Tom Brennan, Tobias Thomsen, Vinnie Foord.
(Teams are same at Poole on Wednesday, except Ben Trigger is the guest at No 7 rather than Connor Coles).
PHOTO by Steve Edmunds