REPORT: Cheetahs left with tough task after heavy defeat at Poole
SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies have left themselves with much work to do to reach the final of the BSN Series, after Poole Pirates won the first leg of the semi-final by 58-32 in Dorset last night (Wednesday).
The previous two clashes between the two sides at Wimborne Road had been highly competitive affairs, resulting in a 46-44 win for Cheetahs in the regular BSN Series group stage clash in May, and a highly controversial 48-42 victory for Pirates two weeks ago in the Cab Direct Championship, with much-publicised re-occurring problems with the starting tapes and referee Wayne Jarvis ending up with a three-meeting suspension for his handling of the affair.
But, third time around, Cheetahs had no answer to fast-starting Pirates on a poorly-prepared track where gating was all-important.
Much of the damage was done in the opening stages at Wimborne Road. Pirates won five of the opening seven races with a 5-1 to open up a 20-point lead, with only heat-wins by Luke Killeen in Heat 2 and skipper Sam Masters in Heat 5 stopping the rot.
Cheetahs’ luck was also out, as demonstrated in Heat 7, where Mitch McDiarmid whipped around the outside on the second bend to join Jordan Jenkins for a 5-1, only for Jenkins to fall on the third bend, after Anders Rowe pushed underneath him. With Jenkins excluded, Pirates took a 5-1 in the re-run.
The scores stood at 43-17 after ten races, before Cheetahs held the hosts across the closing five races, despite controversial exclusions for Killeen in Heat 11 and Jenkins in Heat 12. Killeen was given no room by Paul Starke on the exit of the second bend, while Jenkins’ second exclusion of the evening was perplexing, since he fell on the first bend, after all the riders headed went wide, leaving Jenkins with no room on the outside. It was a textbook first bend bunching incident situation, but not according to the referee.
McDiarmid and guest Sam Hagon left the travelling support something to cheer about when they took a 5-1 in Heat 14. The Oxford pair trapped, as Poole skipper Zach Cook found out what the Cheetahs had experienced all night – once you missed the gate, there was no way back.
Killeen was less than amused when he was brought down for a second time on the second bend, after being pushed wide by Tobias Thomsen in Heat 15. This time around, all four came back. Masters was winning the race when it was stopped, but Richard Lawson trapped in the re-run, to complete a 15-point maximum. Thomsen – looking to complete a paid maximum – headed wide to try to overtake Masters, but inside found himself overtaken by Killeen on the second lap – the only overtake all evening after the end of the opening lap.
Masters top-scored for Cheetahs with 11 points, while a busy Killeen took seven rides and scored 9+1.
Killeen said: “It was a tough night for sure, but I gave it my all. Overall, I feel I proved my worth to the team and I was happy with my performance.
“But I wasn’t happy with the move by Tobias Thomsen in the last race. It’s one thing to run another rider wide; to take them out into the fence is a different story. That I passed him, shut the door on him and kept him behind me in the re-run was a big bonus. I hadn’t realised he was on a paid maximum until that point, so it makes it all the sweeter.
“In the race with Paul Starke, he made contact with my arm. I’ve got the marks on my kevlars to prove there was contact, but according to the referee, I threw the bike away and had loads of room.
“But overall, I scored good points, including third place in Heat 15 – I think that’s the first time I’ve scored in that race.
“It wasn’t a great result for us tonight. But if they can do that to us here, there’s no reason why we can’t do that to them back at Oxford.
“It was a tough start to the season for me, but I’ve made some changes and I’m happy with how it’s been going recently. A bit shout out to Mark Taylor and Diane Reeves who have assisted me with some equipment which has helped turn my season around. It’s also about confidence and mental attitude and getting stuck in and being real hungry for it.”
The date of the second leg of the BSN Semi-Final between Cheetahs and Pirates has yet to be confirmed, but is likely to take place in September.
The next meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium sees the BetGoodwin Oxford Spires take on Sheffield Tigers in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership clash this evening (Thursday, August 14) at 7.30pm. It’s the first of two home meetings this week, since the SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies host Workington on Sunday (August 17) – please note the start-time of 6pm.
Tickets are on sale for both meetings on the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/
Poole Pirates 58: Richard Lawson 15, Tobias Thomsen 9+3, Lewis Kerr 7+1, Zach Cook 8+1, Anders Rowe 9, Paul Starke 4+3, William Cairns 6+1.
SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies 32: Sam Masters 11, Jye Etheridge 0, Jordan Jenkins 1, Mitch McDiarmid 5, Cameron Heeps 1+1, Luke Killeen 9+1, Sam Hagon 5+1.
PHOTO by Steve Edmunds