Oxford Cheetahs v Poole Pirates

Fans once again turned out in big numbers for a meeting between the Pirates and Oxford as exactly fifteen years to the day a Poole side rode at Sandy Lane. 

The opening heat had plenty to offer, Kyle Newman getting by the fast starting Zach Cook and Steve Worrall and if the ex-Poole man thought he had saved the heat for the home side he had a rude awakening when Cook gallantly fought back to set the Pirates on their way with a 4-2. Dillon Ruml won the battle of the "D's" in heat two, leading home Drew Kemp comfortably, but Poole's Ablitt won the battle of the Nathan's (beating Stoneman) to share the heat. Heat three took two attempts to get going, Newman seeking to make a quick get-away being pulled back and issued with a warning. Richard Lawson made the re-start count and Ben Cook was making a nuisance of himself as he attempted to try and join him out the front, Newman though resilient. Another false start came in heat four, this time Poole skipper Danny King the one to incur the wrath of the referee and picking up a mark against his name. Unperturbed, he made a sweet start second time around and with Ablitt again holding out over Stoneman, the Pirates moved into a six point lead, a figure that was held inspite of Newman's heat five win, blocking out Steve Worrall's interests.

Drew Kemp had an unfortunate spin-out at the first turn of heat six causing the race to be stopped. King though, doing what was needed of him in the one-Pirate re-start, not offering  Troy Batchelor any second chances after an early attempt. Batchelor though was given the nod as a tactical substitute in heat seven to join forces with Scott Nicholls, and it was a semi-inspired move as Batchelor came up with the goods, but the potential damage of the Cheetahs two big heat-leaders firing in a 5-1 was superbly mitigated as Ben Cook drove his way by Nicholls and then very nearly snatched the win from Batchelor's grasp on the line. Jack Thomas with two last places to his name found his gating skills in heat eight and with Dillon Ruml gave the meeting it's first 5-1, squaring the scores at 24-a-piece. 

Thomas made it back to back wins and Oxford edged ahead for the first time, Kemp experiencing his second fall of the night in heat nine. Lawson ensured Poole would suffer no further slippage in the scores, working his way to the front around the first turn and staying there to share heat ten.

Worrall produced his best ride so far of the night and with Zach Cook backing up perfectly by getting past Nicholls, Poole turned things around, going from two down to two up. Lawson's solid contribution continued, picking up his third win of the night, second in space of three heats, although Kemp's struggle continued and the meeting still delicately poised. Drama unfolded in the big-guns race, though, King falling on the fourth turn but able to quickly fetch his machine and remount. That proved a vital move as two laps later Nicholls' bike began to give way, allowing King to rescue a point to add to Worrall's three for the win and move Poole into a four point advantage. That was sensationally doubled when Kemp more than made amends for a struggling evening, getting out of the tapes and with Ben Cook alongside proved too strong for the pursuing Ruml, the Pirates were assured of the win on the night and just needed to share heat fifteen to bank their first four pointer of 2022. Worrall though lost ground at the first turn and the chase to try and get by Nicholls as Batchelor led from Lawson was just a step too far and the Pirates were just unable to double their league tally for the season.

OXFORD 42
T.Batchelor,0,2,3,2,2,3=12 (6)
Rider Replacement
J.Thomas,0,0,3,3,2=8 (5)
K.Newman,2,2,3,1,0=8 (5)
S.Nicholls,2,1,1,R,1=5 (5)
D.Ruml,3,1',NS,2',1',NS,1',1=9+4 (6)
N.Stoneman,0,0,NS,0,NS=0 (3). 
.
POOLE 48
S.Worrall,1,2,3,3,0=9 (5)
Z.Cook,3,1',1,2'=7+2 (4)
R.Lawson,3,0,3,3,2=11 (5)
B.Cook,1,2,0,2'=5+1 (4)
D.King,3,3,2,1=9 (4)
D.Kemp,2,XD,0,0,3=5 (5)
N.Ablitt,1',1,0,NS=2+1 (3)
.
Ht 1:  Z.Cook, K.Newman, S.Worrall, T.Batchelor 2-4 2-4 [59.56]
Ht 2:  D.Ruml, D.Kemp, N.Ablitt, N.Stoneman 3-3 5-7 [59.65]
Ht 3:  R.Lawson, K.Newman, B.Cook, J.Thomas 2-4 7-11 [59.88]
Ht 4:  D.King, S.Nicholls, N.Ablitt, N.Stoneman 2-4 9-15 [59.04]
Ht 5:  K.Newman, S.Worrall, Z.Cook, J.Thomas 3-3 12-18 [61.53]
Ht 6:  D.King, T.Batchelor, D.Ruml, D.Kemp 3-3 15-21 [61.09]
Ht 7:  T.Batchelor, B.Cook, S.Nicholls, R.Lawson, D.Ruml [NS] 4-2 19-23 [60.82]
Ht 8:  J.Thomas, D.Ruml, Z.Cook, N.Ablitt, N.Stoneman 5-1 24-24 [60.72]
Ht 9:  J.Thomas, D.King, K.Newman, D.Kemp 4-2 28-26 [60.75]
Ht 10:  R.Lawson, T.Batchelor, D.Ruml, B.Cook 3-3 31-29 [60.37]
Ht 11:  S.Worrall, Z.Cook, S.Nicholls, N.Stoneman, D.Ruml [NS] 1-5 32-34 [60.41]
Ht 12:  R.Lawson, J.Thomas, D.Ruml, D.Kemp, N.Stoneman [NS] 3-3 35-37 [60.38]
Ht 13:  S.Worrall, T.Batchelor, D.King, S.Nicholls [rtd] 2-4 37-41 [59.98]
Ht 14:  D.Kemp, B.Cook, D.Ruml, K.Newman, N.Ablitt [NS] 1-5 38-46 [60.13]
Ht 15:  T.Batchelor, R.Lawson, S.Nicholls, S.Worrall 4-2 42-48 [59.75]
REFEREE:  Paul Carrington 
OXFORD won toss and deferred choice to heat 15; POOLE chose gates 1&3 |OXFORD choose gates 1&3 in heat 15  
League Points: OXFORD 0 POOLE 3