REPORT: Cheetahs edged out by Glasgow in a thriller
SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies just lost out to high-flying Glasgow in a close Cab Direct Championship encounter at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium last night (Wednesday) – with Glasgow Tigers winning by 46-44 after a last-heat decider to move to the top of the table.
Cheetahs were missing both the injured Cameron Heeps and Jonas Knudsen – who was riding in the Danish Championship – and missed their regular men. Both sides used two guest riders – with Zach Cook and Alfie Bowtell for Cheetahs and Justin Sedgmen and Luke Harrison for Tigers – and Glasgow’s replacements outscored Oxford by 14 points to five.
On the other hand, Cheetahs had the far superior reserves, with Luke Killeen (10) and Mitch McDiarmid (6+4) outscoring their counterparts by 16 points to two in this department. Killeen and McDiarmid combined for 5-1s in both Heats 2 and 8.
The meeting was closely contested, with no more than two points between the two sides all night, and the lead changing hands several times. In such a close contest, one moment of bad luck can make a huge difference. McDiarmid slowed with bike problems on the very final bend of Heat 11, allowing Glasgow guest Luke Harrison to come through and join Chris Harris for a 5-1 that placed Tigers back in front by two points. It was Glasgow’s only 5-1 all evening.
After that, the final four races were shared. Both Killeen and McDiarmid overtook Freddy Hodder to ensure Heat 12 ended as a 3-3. Cheetahs’ skipper Sam Masters won a fantastic battle for first place in Heat 13, repassing Chris Harris with a breath-taking outside move with just a lap remaining.
McDiarmid just got the edge from the tapes in Heat 14, with fellow Cheetah Jordan Jenkins handily placed. But Leon Flint chopped under McDiarmid on the second bend to keep the visitors two points in front.
Masters won the concluding Heat 15. Killeen fully deserved his outing in this race, and wasn’t too far from third-placed Harris at the chequered flag, but Kyle Howarth and Harris clinched the meeting for Tigers with a 3-3.
Masters (14) dropped a single point in Heat 1, which was halted when he was ahead, scoring several of his points from behind, while Jenkins was consistent and finished second in all four of his races.
Francis Gusts seemed down on power, but passed Hodder for third place on the final turns of Heat 9. Cook looked a pale shadow of the rider who has impressed in his other three appearances at Cowley this season, although he won Heat 7.
Luke Killeen said: “On a personal level, I’m really happy with my performance tonight. We changed a few things with the engine and the bike ahead of last week’s meetings and I started to go better and win the odd race here and there.
“I was still lacking a little bit of confidence, but tonight I’ve found that and kept my head calm and showed what I can do.
“In Heat 15, I started to ride the kerb at the end and made up some ground on Chris Harris. Maybe if I’d done that earlier in the race I might have got there. But hindsight is a wonderful thing and it doesn’t take away from me having a good night.
“We’ve lost tonight, but we’ve won both home and away this season and we know what we’re capable of as a team. It’s a long season, and we’ll just take it a meeting at a time and keep chipping away.”
Cheetahs are back in action at Edinburgh on Friday with a much changed side. Various international commitments – some of which have either changed dates or have only recently cropped up – see McDiarmid, Killeen, Gusts and Knudsen all unavailable, while Heeps remains on the injury list.
Cheetahs will use rider replacement for Heeps, while Lasse Fredriksen, Ben Morley, Jacob Hook and Jody Scott come in for an almost unrecognisable Cheetahs side, with Masters and Jenkins the only regulars.
Both Killeen and McDiarmid compete in a SGP2 (World Under-21 Championship) qualifier in Debrecen, Hungary on Saturday afternoon.
Killeen added: “I’m in a good head space heading into the meeting in Hungary. I started speedway in individual racing over in Australia and I know what I need to do. We’ll see what I can do over there.”
The next meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium sees the BetGoodwin Oxford Spires take on the King’s Lynn Stars in a vital ROWE Motor Oil Premiership clash next Thursday (June 12) at 7.30pm. Tickets are on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/
SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies 44: Sam Masters 14, Alfie Bowtell 0, Francis Gusts 1+1, Jordan Jenkins 8, Zach Cook 5+1, Mitch McDiarmid 6+4, Luke Killeen 10.
Glasgow Tigers 46: Chris Harris 12+1, Luke Harrison 5+1, Justin Sedgmen 9+1, Leon Flint 7+1, Kyle Howarth 11+1, Freddy Hodder 1+1, Max Perry 1.
PHOTO: Mitch McDiarmid and Luke Kileen combine for the first of two 5-1s in Heat 2 (pic: Steve Edmunds)