REPORT: Cheetahs lose out after eventful meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium

SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs were cursing their ill-fortune, after losing 39-49 to Poole Pirates in the first leg of the quarter-final of the MAXiCab Knockout Cup at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium yesterday evening (Wednesday).

Despite the defeat, there was a glow of optimism last night. It was the first time Cheetahs had taken to the track under a new promotional team of Jamie Courtney, Mike Austin and Spencer Timmo, while other issues at the stadium are also on their way to being resolved.

It was a topsy-turvy meeting that had just about everything, including a hailstorm during Heat 6 that led to an early interval being called after this race.

It was a case of all four seasons in one day. There had been another brief hailstorm during the afternoon just after 4pm followed by brilliant sunshine around five minutes later.

It made track preparation challenging, and Pirates raced into an early 17-7 on an initially dusty surface. Mitch McDiarmid and Anders Rowe hit back with a 5-1 in Heat 5, with Rowe fending off a challenge from Poole No 1 Richard Lawson.

Cheetahs took two further 4-2s to reduce the deficit to two points, before they suffered a hammer blow in Heat 8. Luke Killeen was leading the race, holding off Cooper Rushen, with Darryl Ritchings likewise fending off William Cairns and the 4-2 would have tied the scores at 24-24.

But Killeen reared badly coming off the final corner. In a horrible-looking crash, Killeen came down as did Ritchings and Cairns. All the riders eventually got to their feet, but it meant the end of the night for the battered Killeen while there was also some concern for Ritchings. With Killeen’s exclusion, the race was awarded as a 4-2 for Pirates.

Any chance of Cheetahs hitting back disappeared in Heat 9, in which Rowe and McDiarmid suffered exclusions in Heat 9 and Poole were gifted a 5-0. Both disqualifications were debatable, especially that of Rowe. With Cheetahs holding a 5-1, both Zach Cook and Cairns were both looking for a way around Rowe, with Cook in particular looking for a gap which wasn’t there. The Pirates ran out of room and both crashed on the fourth bend. On the way down, they also hit the back of Rowe, who did well to stay on his bike, with the Cowley crowd clearly not happy with the exclusion of Rowe. In the re-run, McDiarmid fell after finding himself the filling of a Poole sandwich at the start of lap two and he was also excluded from the race.

Poole pulled away, but Cheetahs limited the damage with heat advantages in the final three races, as the meeting continued to be eventful, including an exclusion for Lawson in Heat 13, after a typically ruthless second turn from him which left no room for Cheetahs’ guest Nick Morris on his outside and both hit the deck.

Masters and Morris concluded with a 5-1 in Heat 15 that gives Cheetahs a glimmer of hope heading into the second leg at Wimborne Road next Wednesday, although Pirates will be firm favourites to progress to the semi-finals.

Masters top-scored for somewhat stricken Cheetahs with 14 points, dropping just a single point to Lawson in Heat 1. Ritchings – despite having to pick himself off the track in Heat 8 and continuing in the meeting feeling bumped and bruised – scored seven points, his best return for Cheetahs, concluding with a victory in Heat 14, after McDiarmid was excluded from the race for bringing down Kyle Newman.

For Pirates, British youngsters Cairns (14+1) and Rushen (8+1) both shone at reserve. Rushen commendably rushed to remove his bike to allow the re-run of Heat 14 to continue, after a heavy fall.

Skipper Sam Masters said: “We beat Poole well last time around here and Pirates were clearly better prepared this time. The weather made it very difficult to set up our bikes – the track was dry in my first ride in Heat 1 and then there was a hailstorm during my second ride in Heat 6!

“There was no lack of effort from the boys, but it simply wasn’t our night.

“We haven’t given up the tie yet, because there’s still 15 races to go at Poole next Wednesday.”

The next meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium is on Wednesday, May 27 at 7.30pm, when the SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs take on the Edinburgh Monarchs in their opening home meeting in the Cab Direct Championship. Tickets will be on sale in due course on the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

In the meantime, Cheetahs head north this weekend for a northern tour at Edinburgh on Friday and Workington on Saturday and then have the second leg of the cup tie at Poole next Wednesday (May 20).

SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs 39: Sam Masters 14, Luke Killeen 1, Anders Rowe 4+1, Mitch McDiarmid 4+1, Nick Morris (guest) 7+1, Daryl Ritchings 7, Dayle Wood 2.

Poole Pirates 49: Richard Lawson 6+1, Fraser Bowes R/R, Lewis Kerr 10+1, Kyle Newman 4+1, Zach Cook 7+1, William Cairns 14+1, Cooper Rushen 8+1.

PHOTO: The new promotional team at Oxford – Mike Austin, Jamie Courtney and Spencer Timmo (pic: Steve Edmunds)