Oxford Chargers v Mildenhall Fen Tigers

MILDENHALL gave their NDL play-off hopes a massive boost with a 51-39 win at Oxford on Wednesday.

The Fen Tigers are still outside the top four but have home matches in hand on all of their rivals, and have now closed in on the Chargers and Belle Vue ahead of Sunday’s return against the Cowley club.

Guest Max Clegg scored a perfect 15-point maximum as he stood in for James Shanes, and Jason Edwards was also unbeaten with 13+2 at No.1.

The home side were hit by the absence of skipper Jordan Jenkins who pulled out earlier in the day, and they provided just three heat winners. Henry Atkins top-scored with 12 points.

Oxford boss Peter Schroeck said: “Jordan suffered abdominal problems at Poole recently, for which he was signed out of that meeting. It was a racing injury.

“It flared in the morning today and there was no way he was going to be fit to ride for us tonight.

“It was one of those nights when everything seemed to go wrong. Sam (Hagon) lost his cut-off and that lost us a point and Ben (Morley) was second when he fell off. But don’t get me wrong – Mildenhall were the better team and deserved to win.”

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE
OXFORD 39: Henry Atkins 12, Jacob Clouting 8+2, Jody Scott 7+2, Sam Hagon 6, Ben Morley 4+3, Arran Butcher 2, Nathan Stoneman r/r
MILDENHALL 51: Max Clegg 15, Jason Edwards 13+2, Jack Kingston 9, Alex Spooner 8+1, Sam Woods 3+1, Josh Warren 3, Sam Bebee r/r
NDL points: Oxford 0 Mildenhall 4

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Photo credit: LES AUBREY