Thursday, March 12, 2026
OXFORD SPEEDWAY
CheetahsOxford Speedway

PREVIEW: Target: 59 points!

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SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies need to pull off what would be a famous victory against arch-rivals Poole Pirates in the second leg of their BSN Series semi-final at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium on Wednesday evening (September 17) at 7.30pm.

Cheetahs reached the BSN Series Semi-Finals by topping the Southern Group at the start of the season – including a stunning 46-44 away victory at Poole’s Wimborne Road stadium on May 7. Pirates qualified as the best-scoring runners-up across the three groups.

After being drawn against Pirates in the semi-finals, Oxford suffered a heavy 32-58 defeat in the first leg in Dorset on August 13. Cheetahs must overturn that 26-point deficit at Cowley to progress to the final.

Cheetahs will utilise rider replacement for the injured Jordan Jenkins, with all the Oxford riders eligible to take one of his outings.

Dane Jonas Knudsen is on duty in his home country, so Cheetahs bring in Darryl Ritchings as a replacement. Ritchings – who rides for the Real Mini Company Oxford Chargers powered by AW Mobbs in the WSRA National League – had a spell for Pirates earlier in the season, but was released when William Carins turned 16 and was eligible to ride in the Cab Direct Championship. Ritchings will be keen to show the Poole management that they made the wrong decision.

Oxford manager Peter Schroeck said: “I’d love for us to overturn the 26 points from the first leg at Poole at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium to reach the BSN Series final, but that would require not only a great performance from Cheetahs, but also a very, very bad night for the Pirates. But this is speedway and anything can happen. If we get off to a good start, with our supporters right behind the boys, we can rattle Poole, then who knows, we might be able to pull off a famous result.

“On the other hand, I always try to stay realistic and the MAXiCab Knockout Cup is the best chance of silverware for the Cheetahs. The realistic aim is to win on the night and for the boys to have a morale-boosting victory over a strong Poole side who again will be in contention to win the league championship this season. They would place us in good stead, ahead of the cup semi-final clashes against Redcar.

“It’s always a big night when Poole are the visitors and there’s bound to be a great atmosphere. We need our fans there in numbers, in good voice, and who knows, we can turn Mission Impossible into reality!”

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.

Season Passes are NOT valid on Wednesday. The passes did not include progression in any competition. Except for the re-staging of the meeting between BetGoodwin Oxford Spires and Leicester Lions (date TBC), all 29 meetings (13 Spires, 11 Cheetahs and 5 Chargers) covered by the Ultimate Season Pass have taken place.

Teams:

SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies: Sam Masters (C), Luke Killeen, Jordan Jenkins R/R, Mitch McDiarmid, Francis Gusts, Darryl Ritchings (G), Cameron Heeps, Ashton Vale (No 8).

Poole Wessex Marine Pirates: Richard Lawson, Tobias Thomsen, Lewis Kerr, Zach Cook (C), Anders Rowe, Paul Starke, William Cairns.

PHOTO by Les Aubrey