PREVIEW: Cheetahs look to push back into top four with victory over the Plymouth Gladiators

SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies are aiming for a victory over the Plymouth Gladiators in the Cab Direct Championship at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium on Wednesday evening (July 23) at 7.30pm, on a night that the return of former skipper Scott Nicholls to Sandy Lane will hog the headlines.

Cheetahs are currently in fifth place in the Cab Direct Championship, just one place outside the play-off places. Plymouth occupy bottom spot, but with a top two of Nicholls and Nicolai Klindt, they could prove a handful.

It’s the first two clashes between the two sides this week, since the return meeting takes place in South Devon on Saturday evening.

In April, Cheetahs won both BSN Series encounters against Gladiators – winning 48-41 at Plymouth and 50-40 at Oxford. Inspirational skipper Sam Masters scored a brilliant full 15-point-maximum for Cheetahs in both meetings.

After nine months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, 47-year-old Nicholls declared himself ready to return and scored 7+3 for Plymouth at Edinburgh last Friday in his first meeting back.

Many supporters will be looking forward to the clashes between former team-mates Masters and Nicholls in Heats 1 and 13 at Cowley and very possibly in Heat 15 too.

Cheetahs are still without Jordan Jenkins, who has knee ligament injuries, and bring in Jason Edwards as a guest. Francis Gusts is ruled out through a Swedish commitment and Oxford Charger Darryl Ritchings will replace him.

Oxford manager Peter Schroeck said: “It’s the beginning of a busy spell for Cheetahs and we’re looking to start it with a positive result against Plymouth.

“We’re just outside the play-off places at the moment, and we’d like to get back into the fop four. We don’t want to go into the final part of the season chasing big results – it’s better to have things under your control.”

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

Admission is available at the early bird price of £21 for all adults, which increases to £23 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. Spectators are also reminded that they will need to pay £2 if they are planning to park in the Unipart car park.

A new book on Oxford Speedway will be launched at this meeting. ‘Oxford Revival – A Speedway Success Story’, by multi award-winning author, Ian Wagstaff, documents the remarkable story of the return of the sport to Oxford in 2022. The foreword is provided by Oxford’s greatest ever rider, multiple world champion Hans Nielsen. Published by BHP Publishing, the book will be available at the special launch price of £20 (a £5 saving on the RRP) and there will be the opportunity to have books signed by the author, Oxford riders and other figures associated with the club.

There are two meetings at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium this week. The Real Mini Company Oxford Chargers powered by AW Mobbs host the Belle Vue Colts on Sunday (July 27) afternoon at 3pm and tickets for this meeting are also on sale on the Oxford Speedway website.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: Cheetahs will use rider replacement for Mitch McDiarmid who picked up a shoulder injury while practising in Poland on Friday.

Teams:

SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies: Sam Masters (C), Jonas Knudsen, Mitch McDiarmid R/R, Jason Edwards (G), Cameron Heeps, Darryl Ritchings (G), Luke Killeen.

Plymouth Gladiators: Scott Nicholls, Zaine Kennedy (G), Ben Barker (C), Joe Thompson, Nicolai Klindt, Alfie Bowtell, Max Perry (G).

PHOTO by Les Aubrey