REPORT: Cheetahs battle back from eight points behind to defeat Redcar Bears

LED by an imperious paid maximum by Captain Fantastic Sam Masters, SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs ended a streak of four defeats, as they fought back from eight points behind to defeat Redcar Bears by 46-44 in a scorching Cab Direct Championship thriller at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium last night (Wednesday).

With temperatures reaching 37 degrees Celsius during the day, track curators Jamie Courtney and Wayne Hutt put 220,000 litres of water onto the Cowley track in the build-up to the meeting, plus there was a heavy thunderstorm on Monday evening which also aided the cause of getting plenty of water into the track. Hutt was up the stadium past midnight on Tuesday night, still watering, and up first thing on Wednesday. The result was a surface that produced remarkably little dust and a credit to their efforts.

Oxford had lost from eight points in front at Redcar last Friday, but last night the boot was firmly on the other foot.

Cheetahs started with a 5-1 from Luke Killeen and Masters in Heat 1, but Redcar took heat advantages in the next three races, to take control of the meeting. Cheetahs closed the gap with a 4-2 from Masters and Killeen in Heat 6, while Anders Rowe won both Heats 5 and 7.

But with reserves Jake Mulford and Jody Scott to the forefront, Redcar moved 31-23 ahead after a 4-2 in Heat 8 and 5-1 in Heat 9.

The Oxford fightback started when the powerful Masters and Killeen pairing took a 5-1 in Heat 10. Cheetahs had a much-awaited slice of good fortune when Redcar guest Danny King suffered an engine failure leading Heat 11, allowing Rowe and Darryl Ritchings to level the scores at 33-33 with Cheetahs’ second successive 5-1.

Mitch McDiarmid and Ritchings put Oxford in front with a 4-2 in Heat 12, with Ritchings holding off a challenge from Scott for third – the two are also team-mates in the Oxford Chargers.

Masters won Heat 13 to keep Cheetahs two points ahead, and McDiarmid and Ritchings followed home race winner Jason Edwards, crucially keeping Mulford – the winner of three races earlier in the evening – at the back. While Redcar’s reserves were rampant on the night, Ritchings defeated Scott (Heat 12) and Mulford (Heat 14) when it was most-important.

Masters won Heat 15 to clinch victory for Cheetahs. McDiarmid was briefly into the third after a lap, before Edwards re-took the position, as the meeting finished as a 46-44 victory for Cheetahs, a result that lifted them off the bottom of the Cab Direct Championship table.

With a 90-90 tie on aggregate, an extra Super Heat was then required to decide the aggregate bonus point. Redcar won the toss for gate positions and chose gates 1 and 3. Masters won the race, as he went through the entire evening unbeaten, but King and Jake Allen took a 5-4 under the 4-3-2-0 scoring system for this race, despite the efforts of fourth-placed Rowe.

Skipper Sam Masters – Heat 15 hero and maximum-man – said: “It was a good, battling performance by the boys. It’s tough when you’re using rider replacement and it’s hot like today, but we dug deep and took the victory.

“It wasn’t easy, and we’d have liked the aggregate bonus point as well, because we were good enough to take it, but towards the end, gates 2 and 4 were hard. But winning is the main thing and we got the job done.

“I haven’t been feeling 100 per cent comfortable on the bike at times this year, and I needed a performance like that. My form is going back to where it should be, and I’m starting to enjoy my racing again.

“It is great to win a meeting and it does give everyone a lift. We’re probably going to need some away results as well, but we now can start building towards getting ourselves up into the play-off places.”

The next meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium is next Wednesday (July 1) at 7.30pm, when the SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs take on arch-rivals Poole Pirates in further Cab Direct Championship action. Tickets are on sale in due course on the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

In the meantime, Real Mini Company Oxford Chargers ride away meeting at King’s Lynn next Tuesday (June 30).

SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs 46: Sam Masters 14+1, Luke Killeen 8+1, Edward Kennett R/R, Mitch McDiarmid 8, Anders Rowe 11, Darryl Ritchings 4+2, Dayle Wood 1.

Redcar Bears 44: Danny King 6, Ace Pijper 3+1, Simon Lambert 4+1, Jason Edwards 8+1, Jake Allen 6+2, Jake Mulford 11, Jody Scott 6+1.

PHOTO: Sam Masters clinching victory for Cheetahs in Heat 15, ahead of Redcar guest Danny King. Mitch McDiarmid is putting in 100 per cent on the outside line, but ultimately came fourth in the race (pic: Steve Edmunds)