CHEETAHS THROUGH TO FACE PIRATES

OXFORD booked their place in the Cab Direct Championship Grand Final after a major scare in their semi-final against Scunthorpe.

The Cheetahs saw their two-point lead from the away leg wiped out in the early stages as the Scorpions led 18-12 on the night at Cowley, and it took until Heat 10 for them to regain the aggregate advantage.

Sam Masters and Scott Nicholls established a four-point gap overall with a 5-1 in Heat 13, and guest Dan Gilkes produced an excellent ride to win Heat 14 from the back with Luke Killeen third to make sure of progression.

The hosts won 49-41 on the night and by ten on aggregate, with Nicholls top-scoring on 13+1 and Masters on 12+1. Kyle Howarth scored nine for the Scorpions.

Cheetahs boss Peter Schroeck said: “We knew Scunthorpe would throw everything at us. They wanted to bite us, and it took us a long time to find our feet.

“Reaching the Final was never going to be easy, but we’ve got there and I couldn’t be any prouder of our riders – the lads had to dig deep tonight.

“A big thank you to our guest Dan Gilkes, who has fitted right in with the team over the two legs. Going into Heat 14, he knew what we needed him to do, and he did it. That was the match-winning ride.”

Dates for the Grand Final have been agreed with Oxford hosting Poole in the first leg next Wednesday (September 25) and the return is at Wimborne Road 48 hours later on September 27.

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Photo credit: STEVE EDMUNDS