PREVIEW: Cheetahs in busy weekend

SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies entertain the Workington Comets in the Cab Direct Championship at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium on Sunday early evening (August 17) – please note the start-time of 6pm.

It’s a busy weekend for Cheetahs, since they are also away up in Scotland at Glasgow tonight (Saturday, August 16) in another league match. Cheetahs then conclude their regular Cab Direct Championship fixtures with a home fixture against arch-rivals Poole Pirates on Wednesday evening (August 20).

Oxford are currently in fifth place, one place away from the play-off qualification places. Cheetahs need to win all three of their remaining meetings, while hoping that one of the teams above them will slip up.

Luke Killeen is set to ride, despite the knock to his wrist which forced him to pull out of BetGoodwin Oxford Spires’ home meeting against Sheffield on Thursday.

Cheetahs were due to be at full strength this weekend. However, Francis Gusts advised the Oxford management that he was ill on Monday. His absence at Poole on Wednesday would have ruled him out for seven days due to the regulations regarding sickness. But Gusts rode in the Polish Under-24 League on Tuesday evening, scoring a maximum, and was told he needed to ride at Poole on Wednesday evening. He did not, and therefore the Latvian been handed a 28-day-ban by the Speedway Control Bureau.

Ben Barker was booked as the replacement for Gusts for the Workington clash, but was injured at Redcar on Friday evening, and Cheetahs are sourcing an alternative guest. Sam Hagon, who scored 5+1 for Cheetahs at Poole, will replace Gusts at Glasgow.

Cheetahs’ manager Peter Schroeck said: “We’ve not completely given up on the play-offs. Anybody can win anywhere in this league and it’s possible for us to go to Glasgow and come away with a victory. But even if we do win all three remaining meetings, we need other teams to slip up. All we can do is keep on winning and put the pressure on the other sides.

“Workington have a good side, led by our former No 1 Troy Batchelor, who seems to be in a rich vein of form at the moment. It’s going to be entertaining early evening of speedway at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium.

“We need our fans right behind us, because ideally not only do we need to win the meeting, but we need to overhaul Workington’s eight-point advantage and win the aggregate bonus point as well.”

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.

Cheetahs have already qualified for two other semi-finals this season. In the BSN Series, they trail Poole by 26 points after the first leg at Wimborne Road on Wednesday. The date for the second leg has yet to be confirmed. Cheetahs face Redcar Bears in the semi-finals of the MAXiCab Knockout Cup on dates to be confirmed. All the above fixtures are likely to take place in September.

Teams for Sunday early evening:

SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies: Sam Masters (C), Francis Gusts R/R, Jordan Jenkins, Mitch McDiarmid, Cameron Heeps, Luke Killeen, Jonas Knudsen.

Workington GT Tyres Comets: Troy Batchelor, Zaine Kennedy (G), Antti Vuolas, Jye Etheridge, Tate Zischke, Jacob Hook, Vinnie Foord.

Cheetahs track the same line-up at Glasgow, but with Sam Hagon at No 2.

PHOTO by Steve Edmunds