PREVIEW: POOLE v OXFORD (CAB DIRECT CHAMP)
CAB Direct Championship leaders Poole host Oxford tonight (Wednesday) in a repeat of last season’s Grand Final at Wimborne Road.
Despite the Pirates taking the league title last autumn, the Cheetahs have a good record in Dorset having won the equivalent league clash in August 2024, and they are also the only visiting team to win an away match at Poole this year, with their BSN Series victory in early May.
The Pirates name a full-strength side as they look to extend their lead at the top after being restricted to the aggregate point in a narrow defeat at Redcar last Friday.
Meanwhile the Cheetahs have Zaine Kennedy guesting for the injured Jordan Jenkins, but they are boosted by the availability of Jonas Knudsen and Francis Gusts who had been set to miss the match until the early postponement of fixtures in Denmark.
Poole promoter Dan Ford said: “I really enjoy these local rivalry meetings, not so much when we lose, as the team well knows, and I am certain that our boys will be out to right that early season blip.
“I think we learnt a lot from that meeting. Disappointing as the result was, we came out the other side overall looking a much more resilient side, as our current league position shows.”
Oxford boss Peter Schroeck said: “We have a good record down there and we will be going back to do our best and give it our all.
“It is a tough league, and I will concentrate on the Cheetahs and not worry about what the other teams are doing.”
POOLE: Richard Lawson, Tobias Thomsen, Lewis Kerr, Zach Cook, Anders Rowe, Paul Starke, Will Cairns.
OXFORD: Sam Masters, Cameron Heeps, Zaine Kennedy, Mitch McDiarmid, Jonas Knudsen, Luke Killeen, Francis Gusts.
SCB Referee: Wayne Jarvis
*LIVE STREAMING: https://livestream.poole-speedway.com/
