I have to apologise for the results of last week’s meetings.
There was a brief time last Wednesday evening when the thought entered my head that Oxford Speedway would record three wins in a little over 24 hours. I was even working on the perfect tweet to celebrate the occasion (“Oxford – the winningest club in British Speedway history (starting Tuesday 19th July 2022)” or something). Those thoughts seemed to energise the Brummies and the Lion Cubs and instead of recording three wins, we had to settle for a (healthy) win, a (narrow) loss, and a (frustrating) draw. Still, four points in the Jubilee League table and a point in the NDL wasn’t a bad haul for two evening’s work, but it could have been so much better.
Tonight, as always, we’re selling our raceday Jackpot tickets at the entrances, but in addition to our usual cash prizes and money-can’t-buy centregreen experience, we’ve been donated a £50 voucher from the good folks at Top Tackle on the Abingdon Road, so there’s extra reason to dig deep tonight – it’s only £2 for three strips of tickets, which is 15 chances to win.
Hopefully you’re a keen reader of the Cheetahs Chronicle, lovingly curated by Mark Dean. For £2 a month you can get the latest stats from the league, plus rider profiles, articles about the history of the sport and so much more. Mark sells the Chronicle in the top bar by the fast food outlet, and I can recommend it to anyone. Last week, thanks to your support Mark was able to present over £500 to the Chargers team to help with their costs for the season, so well done to Mark, and well done to all the Chronicle readers.
There’s another new Cheetahs lineup this week with Jack Thomas returning from his injuries. Jack was really pulling in some good scores before he broke his wrists, and it will be good to see him getting back to form. Jack rejoins in place of Josh MacDonald, who still hasn’t recovered from the leg injuries he’s been struggling with since the second heat of the season. Jack fits back into the main body of the team, dropping Dillon back down to reserve. That’s no slight on Dillon’s performances in the main body – he’s been good for a steady 8 or so points since leaving the reserve position, so he should be able to score heavily from the reserve position.
This week sees a bit of a change with the return of Plymouth to Sandy Lane. Between the Championship, the NDL, and the Jubilee League, this will be the third time Plymouth have ridden at Sandy Lane in seven weeks, but tonight is the final time the teams will face each other this year. We’ve already beaten them twice here, let’s make it three out of three.
Go Cheetahs