PREVIEW: Oxford Cheetahs look to keep up momentum against Plymouth Gladiators at BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium

SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs know that their destiny is very much in their own hands when they host the Plymouth Gladiators in the Southern Section of the BSN Series at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium on Wednesday (April 22) evening at 7.30pm.

Cheetahs scored an excellent 51-39 victory over Poole Pirates at Sandy Lane last Wednesday – their first home win over Pirates in five attempts.

There are two meetings remaining in the Southern Section and Oxford are involved in both. There are various permutations, but the simplest one is if Cheetahs win both meetings, they would qualify for the semi-finals of the BSN Series.

Plymouth Gladiators are attractive visitors and include Scott Nicholls in their side – the 47-year-old was skipper of Cheetahs for three years between 2022 and 2024. Gladiators won the corresponding clash in South Devon by 57-32.

Cheetahs bring in Nick Morris as a guest for ill German star Erik Riss, while Slovenian Azme Grmek makes his debut for Plymouth.

Cheetahs’ heat-leader Anders Rowe will go into the meeting buoyed, after being handed the No 17 race-jacket as first reserve for both British Grand Prix rounds in Manchester on June 5 and June 6.

Oxford manager Peter Schroeck said: “We will chase the aggregate bonus point against Plymouth, but it’s a win that is a must.

“Plymouth are a good side, led by two very experienced and talented campaigners in Danny King and our old friend Scott Nicholls, so it’s going to be another very entertaining meeting.

“All we can do is concentrate on ourselves and make sure that we click as a team, as we did last week against Poole, when the boys put in a fantastic performance as a unit.

“We want to put on another top performance for our incredible fans and loyal sponsors. We’re still loving our speedway and we can continue to do that with the backing of our faithful supporters.”

Tickets are already on sale at 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.

Ultimate Season Passes ARE valid for this meeting.

Any tickets for the postponed Plymouth meeting on April 8 have been transferred to this new date. If anyone would like a refund rather than their ticket transferred, they need to contact Ticket Source using the details in the email they received informing them of the postponement. Ticket Source will then issue the refund.

There are two home meetings at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium this week, since the Real Mini Company Oxford Chargers – the defending WSRA National League champions – make their opening appearance of the season on Sunday (April 26) at 3pm. Tickets for this meeting are also on sale on the club website.

Teams:

SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs: Sam Masters (C), Luke Killeen, Anders Rowe, Mitch McDiarmid, Nick Morris (G), Darryl Ritchings, Dayle Wood. Team manager: Peter Schroeck.

OBS Plymouth Gladiators: Danny King, Joe Thompson, Azme Grmek, Ben Barker (C), Scott Nicholls, Daniel Klima, Tom Spencer. Team manager: Garry May.

PHOTO by Steve Edmunds