REPORT: Super Sam Masters leads classy Cheetahs to victory over Berwick Bandits

SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs recorded an excellent 52-38 victory over the Berwick Bandits in front of a much improved crowd in a cracking speedway meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium last night (Friday).

The result moves Cheetahs one place up the Cab Direct Championship table at the expense of Berwick.

Both sides used the rider replacement facility – Cheetahs for Anders Rowe (who competes in the Grand Prix Challenge in Italy later today on Saturday evening), and Bandits for the injured Jordan Jenkins.

Cheetahs’ skipper Sam Masters scored 17 points for Cheetahs, with the Australian superstar dropping his only point to Jye Etheridge in Heat 1. He received the backing from the rest of the side in a team performance, including an 11-point tally from 18-year-old Mitch McDiarmid, who was in the thick of the action all night.

Berwick took the lead with a 4-2 in the opening race, after an engine failure for Luke Killeen. But Cheetahs took a lead they would never surrender with a 5-1 from reserves Darryl Ritchings and Dayle Wood in Heat 2.

There was some excellent racing on display, such as when Masters stole victory in a close finish in Heat 6, after surging around Nick Morris on the line.

For a second successive home meeting, McDiarmid foiled the tactical substitute ride of the visitors when he flew past Peter Kildemand early on to win Heat 7.

Oxford extended their advantage to eight points after a 4-2 from Killeen and Ritchings in Heat 8. The two sides traded 4-2s, before Cheetahs moved ten points ahead with a 4-2 from Edward Kennett and Ritchings in Heat 12, after Ritchings won a battle for third place with Jack Smith.

Masters clinched the victory with a win in Heat 13, while a 5-1 to McDiarmid and Wood over Etheridge in a re-run of Heat 14 left Cheetahs in the chance of the bonus aggregate point.

In the concluding Heat 15, Masters led all the way from Morris. McDiarmid bustled inside Kildemand on the fourth bend into third place. Had the race remained a 4-2, a Super Heat would have been required to decide the aggregate point. But former Oxford Spire Kildemand thrust himself inside McDiarmid at the end of the second lap. McDiarmid tried to stay in contention on the outside, but Kildemand moved over, banging handlebars and leaving McDiarmid glancing the safety fence, as Bandits held on 91-89 on aggregate. The move displeased the Oxford supporters, but afterwards a magnanimous McDiarmid described it as “just racing”.

Mitch McDiarmid won three races, and fell twice – in Heat 5, and the initial staging of Heat 14 when he was brought down by Bandits’ hair-raising reserve Reid Battye. He was voted as Rider Of The Night by Oxford supporters.

McDiarmid said: “Everyone was riding well tonight and I was super-happy for the boys that we took the victory over Berwick. We kept on communicating well throughout the night. I talked to Dayle (Wood) before Heat 14 what we were going to do in that race and it worked out. We’re pushing on as a team.

“I had the speed tonight, but the main thing for me was the starts, which were working well. I’m not usually a gater, but tonight I was getting out alright from the starts.

“It was just racing in Heat 15. I thought there was a gap, but Peter (Kildemand) closed it. He’s been in the sport for a long-time and he knows what to do in those situations – it’s all part of racing.

“A big thank to the Oxford fans, for coming along and getting behind us and they made it a great night.”

The next meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium is next Friday (July 31) at 7.30pm, when the SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs take on arch-rivals Poole Pirates in further Cab Direct Championship action. Tickets are already on sale for this much anticipated-clash on the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs 52: Sam Masters 17, Luke Killeen 7, Edward Kennett 7, Mitch McDiarmid 11, Anders Rowe R/R, Dayle Wood 4+2, Darryl Ritchings 6+1.

Berwick Bandits 38: Peter Kildemand 9+2, Jye Etheridge 8+2, Victor Palovaara 5+1, Jordan Jenkins R/R, Nick Morris 12, Jack Smith 2, Reid Battye 2.

PHOTO: Mitch McDiarmid sees off tactical substitute Peter Kildemand during Heat 7 (pic: Steve Edmunds)