REPORT: Costly defeat for Cheetahs at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium, despite brilliant night for Sam Masters

SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies suffered a 41-49 home defeat to play-off rivals Redcar Bears at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium last night (Wednesday), despite a superlative paid 20 return from skipper Sam Masters.

Bears have replaced Cheetahs in fourth place, the final qualifying place for the play-offs, and still have two matches in hand on Cheetahs. It makes Cheetahs’ away trip to Workington on Saturday evening all the more important.

Without a suitable guest available, Cheetahs went into the meeting using rider replacement for Jordan Jenkins, who tested out his injured knee in a practice spin after the meeting. Ironically, Leon Flint didn’t fit as a guest into Cheetahs’ line-up by just 0.04. He could cover Redcar’s Erik Riss and scored a 11+1 paid maximum for Bears.

Cheetahs were also without Jonas Knudsen, on duty in Denmark. His replacement Jacob Hook came through to take a 5-1 with Luke Killeen in Heat 2, as Cheetahs moved 8-4 ahead.

However, Bears took back-to-back 5-1s in Heats 3 and 4 to take control of the fixture and were eight points ahead of seven races.

Masters and Killeen hauled back a 5-1 in Heat 8, but Bears restored their eight-point lead with a couple of 4-2s, including Flint inflicting the only defeat on Masters in Heat 10.

Masters came into Heat 11 as a tactical substitute. Killeen roared around both Charles Wright and Jody Scott on the second lap, but Wright quicky recovered second, as Cheetahs posted a 4-2. The next two races were shared, while Bears took a match-winning 4-2 in Heat 14.

The bulk of Cheetahs’ points were scored by Masters with 19+1 and Killeen with 10+1 – both took seven outings. Masters’ tally matched Riss’ 20-pount haul for BetGoodwin Oxford Spires earlier in the season. The last time an Oxford rider scored more was a 21-point maximum by the legendary Hans Nielsen at Reading in 1991.

Skipper Sam Masters said: “I’ve been struggling out of the starts in the last few meetings at Oxford but I’ve still been scoring okay. Tonight I was making really good starts and that always helps.

“But, while it’s nice to score paid 20, it’s not about me, it’s about the team and unfortunately we lost tonight. We win as a team and lose as a team. Rider replacement isn’t so good when you’ve got one-or-two riders not performing at their best. It was a tough night for us, for sure.

“We tried our best, but Redcar have one of the strongest teams on paper. Leon Flint is doing awesome at the moment. Sometimes guest riders work for you, sometimes against you, but he definitely was a big plus for Redcar tonight.

“We’ve just got to keep plugging away. We’ve got a young team and some of the lads haven’t got a lot of experience. Tonight it wasn’t a bad track, it was just different and one or two of the boys couldn’t find the right set-up. We’ve got a bunch of kids who’ve got a bright future. Our next meeting is up at Workington on Saturday, so we’ll go to that one and give it our all.”

The next meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium sees the BetGoodwin Oxford Spires take on Sheffield Tigers in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership clash next Thursday (August 14) at 7.30pm. Tickets are on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies 41: Sam Masters 19+1, Jordan Jenkins R/R, Cameron Heeps 6, Mitch McDiarmid 2+1, Francis Gusts 2, Luke Killeen 10+1, Jacob Hook 2+1.

Redcar Bears 49: Charles Wright 7+2, Jody Scott 2, Jason Edwards 11+1, Leon Flint 11+1, Danny King 10, Jake Mulford 3+1, Ace Pijper 5+2.

PHOTO: Sam Masters ahead of Jason Edwards in Heat 15 (pic: Steve Edmunds)