PREVIEW: Cheetahs aim for positive start to league campaign at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium
SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies return to action at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium for the first time in a month, when they host the Scunthorpe Scorpions in their opening Cab Direct Championship fixture on Wednesday evening (May 28) at 7.30pm.
The meeting will be the second time that the two sides have clashed at Cowley this season. The previous occasion on April 9 saw Cheetahs win by 55-35 in the MAXiCab Knockout Cup.
In a positive start to the season, Cheetahs have qualified for the semi-finals for both the BSN Series and the KO Cup. They achieved the latter when completing a 97-83 aggregate victory over Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire last Friday.
Oxford will be without Jonas Knudsen, who is riding in his own domestic league back in Denmark. With teams allowed a five per cent allowance on home guests, Cheetahs have booked Danyon Hume as a replacement. Knudsen is also missing at Redcar on Friday, this time for the Danish Championship, and Sam Hagon will stand in.
Francis Gusts – who has initially been signed as a temporary replacement for the injured Dan Gilkes – will make his home debut for Cheetahs, having scored six points at Scunthorpe on Friday. The young Latvian has already ridden three times at Sandy Lane this season, in a spell for the BetGoodwin Oxford Spires.
Oxford team manager Peter Schroeck says: “We beat Scunthorpe well around the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium almost two months ago, but we won’t take anything for granted this time around.
“It’s a clean slate and both teams start from zero again. But, of course, we want to start our Cab Direct Championship fixtures in positive fashion with a good victory.
“The SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies have started the season in excellent shape, and even one or two setbacks with injuries have not affected the forward momentum of the side.
“We’ve already reached two semi-finals, and this week, we are looking to carry forward that momentum into our league matches.”
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.
Teams:
SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies: Sam Masters (C), Danyon Hume (G), Cameron Heeps, Francis Gusts, Jordan Jenkins, Mitch McDiarmid, Luke Killeen.
Ellie Rose Travel Scunthorpe Scorpions: Steve Worrall, Declan Kennedy, Zaine Kennedy, Connor Mountain, Jake Allen, Luke Harrison, Simon Lambert (C).
(PHOTO by Ian Wagstaff)