PREVIEW: Oxford Cheetahs set for a humdinger against old rivals Poole Pirates in cup clash

SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs host arch-rivals Poole Pirates in a mouth-watering MAXiCab Knockout Cup quarter-final clash at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium on Wednesday (May 13) evening at 7.30pm.

The meeting at Cowley is the first leg, with the second leg at Poole’s Wimborne Road next Wednesday (May 20). The aggregate winners will join Berwick, Plymouth and Redcar in the cup semi-finals.

It is the first home meeting at Sandy Lane, since the club issued a statement revealing that the long‑term future of Oxford Speedway at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium has been secured, with Spencer Timmo and Mike Austin joining and strengthening the promotional team and Mike set to become co‑promoter alongside Jamie.

Oxford and Poole have already met at Cowley this season on April 15, with Cheetahs triumphing by 51-39 in the BSN Series, although it was Pirates who eventually topped the group and progressed to the semi-finals.

Nick Morris will guest for Cheetahs in place of Erik Riss, who remains sidelined through illness and is not ready to return this week.

Oxford manager Peter Schroeck says: “I’m not going to set a target for Cheetahs for the first leg of the MAXiCab Knockout Cup against Poole at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium.

“Sometimes you can only win your home leg by a couple of points and it can be enough. Other times, you can win by twenty and it’s not enough. It’s just about scoring as many points as we can as a team on Wednesday and then doing the same at Poole next week. At the end of those two meetings, if we’ve got 91 points, then we’ll be happy.

“The one thing you’re guaranteed when Poole come to Oxford is a terrific night of speedway in front of a bumper crowd. There was a fantastic atmosphere when we beat Poole at Oxford in the BSN Series and that’s what we’d love to have again – the supporters getting right behind the lads and cheering them to victory.”

Tickets are on sale at 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 when booking their ticket if they are planning to park in the Unipart car park. Parking at the Unipart car park is now fully restored and the club thank Unipart for their understanding and co-operation.

Ultimate Season Passes ARE valid for this meeting, since it is Cheetahs’ opening home meeting in the MAXiCab Knockout Cup. Passes are not valid for any subsequent progression in the competition.

Teams:

SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs: Sam Masters (C), Luke Killeen, Anders Rowe, Mitch McDiarmid, Nick Morris (G), Darryl Ritchings, Dayle Wood. Team manager: Peter Schroeck.

Poole Wessex Marine Pirates: Richard Lawson, Fraser Bowes, Lewis Kerr, Kyle Newman, Zach Cook (C), William Cairns, Cooper Rushen. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

PHOTO by Steve Edmunds