Plymouth Gladiators v Oxford Cheetahs

Report

OXFORD kept their hopes of BSN Series qualification alive with a 48-42 win at Plymouth in a last-heat decider on Tuesday.

Scott Nicholls and Sam Masters raced to a 5-1 for the Cheetahs in the final race over Richie Worrall and Kyle Howarth to secure a tight contest in the visitors’ favour, with the sides having been split by only two points for the majority of the meeting.

Nicholls maintained his strong start to the season with 13 points and Masters added 12+2, whilst Worrall (10+1) and Howarth (10) both reached double figures for the Gladiators.

Said Nicholls: “It was a team performance. Everyone chipped in and did their bit.

“Plymouth can be a tough place to come to – it’s a small track and they have home track specialists within the Plymouth team and they’ve got a strong side in any case, so it’s a really good result for us to get a win here.

“It was an important result for us, to stay in this competition. We lost out to Poole home and away, so we’re now fighting to finish second in the group, and the win tonight still gives us a chance to progress.”

BSN SERIES SOUTHERN GROUP
PLYMOUTH 42: Richie Worrall 10+1, Kyle Howarth 10,  Ben Barker 7+1, Paul Starke 5+1, Jake Turner 5, Dan Gilkes 4, Ben Trigger 1
OXFORD 48: Scott Nicholls 13, Sam Masters 12+2, Lewis Kerr 8, Henry Atkins 6, Cameron Heeps 5, Jordan Jenkins 3, Luke Killeen 1

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Photo credit: DAN WESTLAKE