REPORT: Wounded Cheetahs go down fighting in Cup Final
AN unusual-looking Monarch Oxford Cheetahs side completed their season with a 33-57 defeat in the second leg of the Cab Direct Knockout Cup Final at Poole last night (Wednesday). Poole Pirates won 114-66 on aggregate to add the cup to the league championship and BSN Series.
Cheetahs were decimated by injuries and tracked just two of their regular riders – No 1 Sam Masters and teenager Ashton Boughen.
Scott Nicholls, and Luke Killeen have recently joined Jordan Jenkins and Adam Roynon on the sidelines, with regular stand-in Jody Scott also on the injury list. In addition, Cameron Heeps was missing on paternity leave due to the forthcoming birth of his first child.
In contrast to Cheetahs, Pirates were lucky enough to track their full-strength septet. Poole were almost home-and-dry going into the meeting last night after a 24-point victory in the first leg at Oxford Stadium last Thursday after Cheetahs’ skipper Nicholls crashed out with a dislocated shoulder in his opening outing. Their aggregate victory was never in doubt, as Pirates became the first team in British Speedway to complete a domestic treble since Workington in 2018.
But Cheetahs battled all night and produced three successive heat winners in the shape of guest Jason Edwards – a late stand-in for Heeps – in Heat 9, Boughen in Heat 10 and Masters in Heat 11. 17-year-old Boughen completed a hat-trick of wins over Poole No 1 Richard Lawson at Wimborne Road this season.
Masters also won the concluding race in Heat 15, as depleted Cheetahs matched their score from the opening leg and gained some respectability.
Stand-in skipper Sam Masters top scored for Monarch Cheetahs with 11+1 and he said: “We came here to put on a show and have some fun riding our bikes and see what result we could get. No Poole rider scored a maximum tonight, so it was good that we managed to beat them all over the night.
“Poole always put together such a strong team and we knew it would be tough tonight. We wanted to come here and ruffle a few feathers and I think we did that.
“It would have been nice to have our captain Scotty (Nicholls) here and the rest of the boys who have been racing for us all season, but we ended the season with lots of injures – that’s the way it can go.
“Both Pete (Schroeck, Oxford team manager) and my mechanic (former British Champion Neil Evitts) told me: ‘go out and win the final race of the season and you can leave happy’ so that’s what I went and did. It is nice to finish the season by winning Heat 15.”
While it’s been a cruel end to the season for Cheetahs, who lost at Poole in controversial circumstances in the Cab Direct Championship Grand Final and were badly depleted in the Cup Final, it does not detract from a successful season in which they finished second in the regular league table ahead of seven other sides and reached the major two finals.
Last season was the very final meeting of the 2024 British Speedway, a season that has seen Oxford Speedway break new territory by entering all three leagues. While there has been no silverware for Spires, Cheetahs and Chargers, all three sides have attracted good crowds to Oxford Stadium in an enjoyable year. A three-prong attack has been confirmed once more in 2025, with Boughen and Killeen already signed for Cheetahs and Killeen also starting for Spires as their Rising Star.
Oxford’s End Of Season Party takes place at the Double Tree By Hilton Oxford Belfry on Friday. Ticket sales have closed, but supporters can vote for their Rider Of The Year for all three teams at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/team/
Poole Pirates 57: Richard Lawson 12+1, Sam Hagon 5+1, Ben Cook 13, Zach Cook 5+1, Tom Brennan 8, Tobias Thomson 8+3, Vinnie Foord 6+2.
Monarch Oxford Cheetahs 33: Sam Masters 11+1, Simon Lambert 3+2, Ashton Boughen 3, Dan Gilkes 4, Jason Edwards 8, Ben Trigger 4, Connor Coles 0.
PHOTO: Monarch Oxford Cheetahs last night (pic: Steve Edmunds)