REPORT: Cheetahs lose out at Plymouth

SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies added no league points to their tally in the Cab Direct Championship after a 37-52 defeat at the Plymouth Coliseum last night (Saturday).

Oxford went into the evening with just four of their usual riders, due to injuries to Jordan Jenkins and Mitch McDiarmid, while Jonas Knudsen was representing Denmark at international level.

Cheetahs began brightly, with guest Paul Starke and skipper Sam Masters posting a 5-1 in Heat 1, and added a 4-2 from Francis Gusts and Luke Killeen in Heat 2, after Gusts got away with moving at the start.

Oxford Charger Darryl Ritchings rode at No 8 for Cheetahs and he re-passed Lasse Fredriksen for third place in a great move in Heat 3, as a 3-3 took the scores to 12-6 in the favour of the visitors.

From there on in, Cheetahs floundered. They conceded a 5-1 in Heat 4, while Starke was unable to push his bike home for a point in Heat 5, after his wheel buckled in a last bend fall.

Plymouth Gladiators added three further heat advantages – making five in succession – as they moved 27-20 ahead.

The next batch of races were eventful, including a couple of crunching first bend falls around the tight confines of the Coliseum – the smallest track in the UK.

Tactical substitute Masters picked himself off the track in Heat 9, and he had to give second best to Joe Thompson in the-re-run. Killeen took a notable third place ahead of former Cheetahs’ skipper Scott Nicholls in Heat 10, with Nicholls on Ben Barker’s machine, after troubles to his own.

After three shared races, both guest Zaine Kennedy and Killeen came down as part of a first bend melee in Heat 12. Kennedy suffered an injury to his hand, which affected his scoring in his final two outings, while Gladiators took a 5-1 in the re-run. Barker clinched victory for Gladiators by overtaking Masters on the opening lap of Heat 13. Plymouth also clinched the aggregate bonus point with a 5-1 in Heat 14.

Masters ended up as overall top-scorer on the night with 14+1.

Cheetahs’ manager Peter Schroeck said: “The Plymouth track holds no fears for us – we normally come down and put on a better show and we’ve won here on numerous occasions.

“But today wasn’t meant to be. It’s been a rough week, trying to get riders together, and we were some missing key riders around here tonight and that hurt us. My thanks to those riders who did accept the guest booking for us – Zaine Kennedy took a knock but continued in the meeting.

“\It was an eventful meeting, but we were beaten by the better team on the night. But we won’t dwell on it. We’ll re-group and we’ll keep on pushing on.”

Cheetahs remain in fourth place – the position they need to retain to qualify for the end-of-season play-offs. They are next in action at Poole on Wednesday (July 30).

The next meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium sees league leaders Real Mini Company Oxford Chargers powered by AW Mobbs host the Belle Vue Colts this afternoon (Sunday, July 27) at 3pm. Tickets are on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

Plymouth Gladiators 52: Scott Nicholls 3, Tobias Thomsen 9+1, Lasse Fredriksen 5+1, Joe Thompson 10+1, Ben Barker 12+1, Alfie Bowtell 11+1, Tom Spencer 2+1.

SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies 37: Sam Masters 14+1, Paul Starke 3, Jordan Jenkins R/R, Zaine Kennedy 7, Cameron Heeps 4+2, Francis Gusts 3, Luke Killeen 5+1, Darryl Ritchings (No 8) 1+1.

PHOTO by Steve Edmunds