SPIRES SNATCH LATE VICTORY

CHRIS Harris and Rohan Tungate were the Heat15 heroes as Oxford edged out Belle Vue 46-44 in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership classic at Cowley.

The Spires had fought back from eight points down to take the lead with a 5-1 from Harris and Tungate in Heat 13 – but that was immediately cancelled out by Connor Mountain and Ben Cook for the Aces in the next race.

That meant the visitors led 43-41 but Harris and Tungate had the final say with a great effort to get the better of Dan Bewley in the decider.

Harris top scored with 13+1 and Tungate added 10+2, whilst Belle Vue took the consolation of the aggregate point despite being without skipper Brady Kurtz due to an ankle injury.

Bewley hit back from a heavy Heat 1 crash to score 13+1, whilst Mountain impressed with 11 at reserve.

Harris said: “Belle Vue are a good team, and we had to fight hard tonight and all of our team had to dig deep, and every point proved vital.

“Dan Bewley is a world class rider, so it was great to beat him twice and join Rohan for a couple of 5-1s to clinch the meeting for Spires. I wasn’t far from catching Dan in Heat 4 either.

“The track was underwater this morning, after the heavy rain on Wednesday and well done to Jamie (Courtney) and his track team on producing such a good racetrack.”

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Photo credit: LES AUBREY