REPORT:Oxford Cheetahs v Poole Pirates - MAXiCAB KO Cup 1st Leg

Poole took a giant stride towards the KO Cup semi-finals with a ten point first leg quarter final victory at Oxford, with Will Cairns battling against a wrist injury to score 14+1 which included an unbeaten hat-trick in the space of four heats.

Bellowing dust clouds in heat one were replaced by April showers in heat six, merging into a hailstorm. These external factors, together with determined riding, provided plenty of incidents in this cup tie.

Richard Lawson continued in the vein in which he had finished the Pirates’ previous visit, storming from the tapes where a quick glance showed him that Kyle Newman was in tow. But Lawson could do little to protect Newman as Sam Masters swept by the rider replacement nominee on the fourth turn. Newman then came under fire from Luke Killeen entering turn three of the second lap, but he kept up the chase and was rewarded when he re-passed Killeen, whose motor was fading.

Darryl Ritchings tried to move William Cairns wide on the back straight of the opening circuit of heat two, but not only did it backfire on him, it also created room on the inside for Cooper Rushen to drive through for an unchallenged 5-1 from there on in.

Poole were heading for another early 5-1 in heat three, but an exceedingly tight entry into turn four mixed things up as Anders Rowe and Mitch McDiarmid went either side of Newman, who was not helped when something appeared to drop off his machine. Half a lap later Newman ground to a halt, but Lewis Kerr still enjoyed the thrills of a first-ride victory.

Rushen gated fast in heat four and the Pirates’ 5-1 was made much easier when Oxford guest Nick Morris lifted badly while lining up a move on Zach Cook at the fourth turn of the second lap, doing remarkably well to remain aboard his machine.

For the first time of the evening, the Cheetahs found their gating form in heat five, with McDiarmid and Rowe much sharper from the start than Lawson was from gate four. As the race developed, so did the rain, leaving many soggy programmes as Oxford recorded their first heat advantage to trail 12-18.

As the riders came out for heat six, the raindrops felt much heavier — and they were, having been replaced by hailstones. Skipper Zach Cook showed his dislike for the conditions, looking a pale shadow of himself as he trailed at the back for all four laps in a slow race won by Masters over Cairns in 62.71 seconds.

Oxford’s steady recovery continued into heat seven as Morris held firm under an early challenge from Kerr, whilst Newman’s attempts to chip away at Dayle Wood yielded no reward. Nominated for the rider replacement ride, Kerr had little time to prepare for heat eight and, bizarrely, no extra time allowance was granted for the back-to-back outing. Consequently, he missed the two-minute allowance and Cairns was hurriedly sent out as a replacement.

With Killeen making a swift getaway, another Oxford victory appeared likely until, just yards from the finish, he reared and lost control. With little time to react, Rushen did well to switch lines but clipped the fence and went down, swiftly followed by both Ritchings and Cairns, neither of whom could avoid the carnage. Remarkably, all four riders were able to return to the pits under their own steam, although Killeen came off worst. The race was awarded as a Poole 4-2 following his disqualification as the cause of the stoppage.

There was a little more breathing space ahead of heat nine for Cairns, as Killeen was being checked over. McDiarmid was leading with Rowe just behind, while Cook and Cairns were both looking to pass the former Pirate. But Rowe moved across into Cook’s path, diverting the Poole captain into Cairns midway through bend two. Cairns suffered a heavy blow to his wrist but steadfastly insisted he wanted to battle on after Rowe had been disqualified.

As the tapes rose for the re-run, there were no signs of discomfort from the Poole pairing as they jetted away. On the second lap, entering the first turn, matters became extremely tight with all three riders close enough to be covered by one of those large hailstones, and McDiarmid went down. Reviewing the footage confirmed McDiarmid as the cause of the stoppage, paving the way for an unchallenged Poole five-nil in the second re-run.

The Oxford pairing of Masters and Wood — covering for the ruled-out Killeen — trapped in heat ten, but both Kerr and Newman passed the Oxford reserve to secure a heat share as the rain returned, leaving Poole 25-34 ahead.

Cairns was sharp from the tapes in heat eleven and had Lawson following his tyre tracks, their maximum heat score made easier when Morris packed up. Out again in heat twelve, Cairns enjoyed a real purple patch to finish his night — although by morning the purple patch could well have been his wrist. Partnered home this time by Kerr, the heat victory confirmed Poole’s win on the night, with Oxford’s best hope, Anders Rowe, retiring on the second lap.

Lawson ran Morris very wide on the second turn of the opening lap of heat thirteen, causing Morris to go down and earning Lawson a disqualification. In the re-start, Cook was slow away but had swept past Morris by mid-corner to limit Oxford’s first heat gain since heat seven to a 4-2.

Heat fourteen saw Ritchings make the start, only to be passed by both Newman and Rushen. McDiarmid took an extra lap to move into a scoring position but, approaching the first turn on lap two, attempted a desperate inside move on the Poole pair, collecting Newman in the process. Once again, the replay confirmed McDiarmid as the guilty party and, for the second time, he was excluded from the re-run.

OXFORD 39
Sam Masters 2,3,3,3,3=14 (5)
Luke Killeen 0,1,FD,RS=1 (3)
Anders Rowe 2,2',XD,R=4+1 (4)
Mitch McDiarmid 1',3,X0,XD=4+1 (4)
Nick Morris 1,3,R,1,2'=7+1 (5)
Darryl Ritchings 1,RS,2,1,3=7 (4)
Dayle Wood 0,0,1,RS,0,1=2 (5)

POOLE 49
Richard Lawson 3,1,2',XD=6+1 (4)
Rider Replacement
Lewis Kerr 3,2,N2,2,2',1=10+1 (5)
Kyle Newman 1,R,0,1',2=4+1 (5)
Zach Cook 2',0,3,2,0=7+1 (5)
William Cairns 3,2,1,2',3,3=14+1 (6)
Cooper Rushen 2',3,0,3,F=8+1 (5)

Ht 1: R.Lawson, S.Masters, K.Newman, L.Killeen 2-4 2-4 [58.81]
Ht 2: W.Cairns, C.Rushen, D.Ritchings, D.Wood 1-5 3-9 [59.78]
Ht 3: L.Kerr, A.Rowe, M.McDiarmid, K.Newman [rtd] 3-3 6-12 [59.42]
Ht 4: C.Rushen, Z.Cook, N.Morris, D.Wood 1-5 7-17 [59.92]
Ht 5: M.McDiarmid, A.Rowe, R.Lawson, C.Rushen 5-1 12-18 [58.76]
Ht 6: S.Masters, W.Cairns, L.Killeen, Z.Cook 4-2 16-20 [62.7]
Ht 7: N.Morris, L.Kerr, D.Wood, K.Newman 4-2 20-22 [61.32]
Ht 8: C.Rushen, D.Ritchings, W.Cairns, L.Killeen [fell exc], L.Kerr[exc 2 mins] 2-4 22-26 [awd]
Ht 9: Z.Cook, W.Cairns, M.McDiarmid [exc], A.Rowe[exc] 0-5 22-31 [60.65]
Ht 10: S.Masters, L.Kerr, K.Newman, D.Wood 3-3 25-34 [60.88]
Ht 11: W.Cairns, R.Lawson, D.Ritchings, N.Morris [rtd] 1-5 26-39 [63.46]
Ht 12: W.Cairns, L.Kerr, D.Wood, A.Rowe [rtd] 1-5 27-44 [62.91]
Ht 13: S.Masters, Z.Cook, N.Morris, R.Lawson[exc] 4-2 31-46 [61.75]
Ht 14: D.Ritchings, K.Newman, C.Rushen [fell], M.McDiarmid[exc] 3-2 34-48 [62.27]
Ht 15: S.Masters, N.Morris, L.Kerr, Z.Cook 5-1 39-49 []

SGB Referee Mr Simon Humphrey-Kennett with Trainee Josh Marsh

Meeting Reaction: here

Photo credit: LIam Cockwell