REPORT: Cheetahs out of luck at Plymouth
SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs were right in the mix at Plymouth’s Coliseum last night (Saturday), before Plymouth Gladiators registered a 50-39 victory in the Cab Direct Championship.
The result makes the home meeting against Redcar Bears on Wednesday all the more important. Cheetahs require both victory and the aggregate bonus point from that meeting to push themselves back up the league table.
Oxford used rider replacement for Edward Kennett at Plymouth, since he was a late withdrawal through illness.
For a second successive night, Oxford forced the home side into a tactical substitution in Heat 9. Cheetahs twice moved six points ahead: after a 5-1 from skipper Sam Masters and Luke Killeen in Heat 5, and a similar 5-1 result from Killeen and lively reserve Dayle Wood in Heat 8. Earlier Wood and fellow reserve Ritchings had placed Cheetahs ahead with a 4-2 in Heat 2,
It was Heat 9 which shifted the momentum of the meeting, since it resulted in a 5-0 to Gladiators. With Plymouth big guns Danny King and Scott Nicholls out as a tactical substitute and rider replacement respectively, they got out in front, but Darryl Ritchings came down.
In the re-run, Mitch McDiarmid trapped, but King launched himself around McDiarmid on the back straight. King hadn’t completed the overtake, when he attempted to switch the inside line already occupied by McDiarmid. The two riders tangled into the third bend, with both thudding into the fence. Both riders were eventually on their feet, although McDiarmid suffered substantial damage to his bike. Meanwhile, the decision to exclude McDiarmid rather than King from the re-run somewhat mystified the Oxford camp.
Plymouth then took the lead with a 5-1 in Heat 10, but the scores were still close at the interval stage. Masters won Heat 13 ahead of Nicholls and King, which kept the gap at three points.
Wood had been banged about in a first bend incident with new Plymouth signing Ben Whalley in Heat 12 (Wood was still third in the re-run), prompting Cheetahs to bring in Ritchings into Heat 14. Daniel Klima and Anze Grmek got out in front and held on for a match-winning 5-1, despite Ritchings hounding them for all four laps.
Plymouth took another 5-1 in the concluding Heat 15 – with the final 11-point margin somewhat flattering Gladiators. Cheetahs had put in a determined effort – only for both man and machine to take a battering around the smallest circuit in UK racing.
Masters top scored for Cheetahs on 11+1, supported by Killeen (8+2), Wood (7+2) and Anders Rowe (6+1).
Luke Killeen has returned from a rib injury this week, and his 8+2 at Plymouth came after eight point returns for Cheetahs at Oxford and Redcar. Killeen said: “For me personally, it’s been a positive week.
“I’ve done four meetings in four nights, since I also rode for Sheffield at Northampton on Thursday. This week was all about me making sure I was fully bike fit and was making sure I stayed out of trouble. I wasn’t chasing that many points, but maybe that’s a goal for the future, because that riding that way has resulted in me scoring well.
“I used a different engine tonight that I’ve used here in the past. After a couple of rides, we changed it all around and I started making a few gates.
“We put in plenty of effort tonight. But Mitch picked up a couple of exclusions – and some would say one of those was controversial – but it’s all part of the sport. Speedway can be a game of luck.
“It’s tough for us at the moment, but the team spirit is still running high and we’re communicating well. There are positive signs and we want to turn it around.
“We know we need to beat Redcar at Oxford next Wednesday. It was frustrating that we were pipped on the line up there, but that it was close means there are three points for us to win on Wednesday. I’m sure the fans will come along and get right behind us.”
The next meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium is next Wednesday (June 24) at 7.30pm, when the SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs take on Redcar Bears in a Cab Direct Championship clash with an aggregate bonus point at stake. Tickets are on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/
Plymouth Gladiators 50: Danny King 12+4, Joe Thompson 10+2, Daniel Kilma 6, Ben Barker R/R, Scott Nicholls 17, Anze Grmek 5+1, Ben Whalley 0.
SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs 39: Sam Masters 11+1, Luke Killeen 8+2, Anders Rowe 6+1, Edward Kennett R/R, Mitch McDiarmid 4, Darryl Ritchings 3, Dayle Wood 7+2.
PHOTO by Steve Edmunds