Post by Genghis on Aug 26, 2007 11:28:27 GMT
Saturday, August 25, 2007
RYE HOUSE RAIDERS 37 OXFORD LCD PUBLISHING CHEETAHS 54
Oxford win aggregate point by 104-80
(Conference League)
Oxford Cheetahs warmed up perfectly for the big Bank Holiday cup clash with Plymouth with an emphatic 54-37 victory in a Conference League match at Rye House.
It was a fairly close fought affair for most of the night, with Cheetahs leading by 3 points after nine races (28-25), but the visitors then powered away in the final stages, with four maximum heat advantages in the final six heats.
The Cheetahs just had too much all-round strength for the home side, who relied almost entirely on the efforts of Robert Mear. Mear picked up a superb 21 point maximum for the Raiders, but his team-mates managed just 16 points between them.
New signing Scott Campos - a recent addition to the Oxford squad - made his debut for Cheetahs, and scored a creditable 2 paid 3 from the reserve berth.
Lee Smethills won a shared opener, ahead of Daniel Halsey and Karlis Ezergailis (bizarrely just referred to as "Karlis" by the Rye programme and announcer - due to misspellings and misprounoucements of his surname!), with Kyle Hughes unable to recover after a poor start (3-3).
Grade 1 rider Kye Norton, younger brother of former Oxford star Danny Norton, was drafted into the Raiders line-up at No. 7 but a nightmare evening for the 15-year-old commenced when he looped his bike prior to the start of Heat 2 and was unable to fire it back into action. With Norton excluded under the two-minute allowance, Brendan Johnson and Scott Campos flew from the tapes for the Cheetahs, but Nick Laurence relieved Campos of second place on lap 2 (5-7).
Gary Cottham became the second Raider to suffer a two-minute exclusion in Heat 3, while Mear showed he was up for it, by storming around the outside on the opening half-lap to head home Jordan Frampton & Smethills (8-10).
Heat 4 saw a dubious tapes exclusion for Norton, as it appeared that Johnson had moved first. In the re-run, Halsey was the early leader, but he was passed in fine style by Danny Betson at the halfway stage of the race, with Betson fearlessly charging around his opponent (10-14).
Cottham was close to another two-minute exclusion in Heat 5. The race was shared, with Mear seeing off an early challenge from Smethills (13-17).
Heat 6 saw a terrific battle between Mear and Betson. Mear gated, then Betson tried inside and out to try to overhaul his opponent. The battle went right down to the final corner, where a last gasp attempt by Betson around the outside was unsuccessful. With Ezergailis in third, Rye House took their first heat advantage of the night (17-19).
It took three attempts to complete Heat 7. First time around, Hughes moved at the tapes and the race was halted, with Frampton in front. At the second attempt, Halsey straightened up entering the first turn, with the result that Halsey, Frampton and Laurence all became tangled up and locked together. Laurence fell, and appeared to be run over by Frampton's machine, as the three riders came to a gradual stop by the first bend fence in an unusual looking incident. All four riders came back for the second re-run, where Frampton and Hughes took a 5-1 to move Oxford six points into the lead (18-24).
Rye House No. 1 Ezergailis found 15-year-old Johnson a real handful in Heat 8 as the two riders battled for the lead. Johnson edged momentarily under Ezergailis on the third turn, with Ezergailis regaining the initiative as they completed the opening lap. Fourth-placed Norton fell on the second bend of lap 2 and did well to clear the track in time to allow the race to continue. Coming off the fourth bend of lap 3, third-placed Hughes suffered an engine failure and pulled onto the centre green. Hughes realised his mistake afterwards, as he could have pushed home for a point, but these things can happen in a sport where split-second decisions are made (Sky viewers will have recently seen a repeat of the classic 2004 Wolves v Ipswich play-off encounter where British captain Scott Nicholls made a similar mistake) - and Hughes, still only 18-years-old, will have no doubt have learnt from the experience (21-26).
Cottham gated in Heat 9, but was rounded on the second bend by Betson, with Mear, in turn, going around the outside down the back straight to move from third to first. Spectacular stuff, with all three side-by-side at one point. The race then settled down as a 4-2 to Rye (25-28).
Frampton was taken wide in a ferocious first bend in Heat 10, with Cottham left leading from Betson and Ezergailis. However, Betson blasted around Cottham on the fourth turn to take the lead, with Frampton slotting inside Ezergailis at the same point. At the midway stage of the stage, Cottham suffered a puncture and Frampton came through to join Betson for a 5-1 (26-33).
Smethills & Hughes then led Halsey & Laurence all the way in Heat 11, for a second successive maximum for the Cheetahs (27-38).
Mear was nominated as a tactical ride in Heat 12. Norton was still suffering bike problems, excluded under two minutes, and replaced by Laurence. Mear gated, but came under fierce pressure from Frampton on the opening lap. Mear held on, but with Frampton and Johnson in second & third places, the Cheetahs edged towards the winning line (33-41).
Betson & Smethills secured Oxford's fourth successive Conference League win with a no-nonsense 5-1 over Halsey and Ezergailis, with the latter eventually pulling up from fourth place (34-46).
Norton suffered a third exclusion under the two-minute allowance in Heat 14. Frampton & Johnson gated, before Johnson locked up on the third bend. The following Cottham ploughed into him, and both came crashing down to earth. Fortunately both were OK, but referee Dale Entwistle's decision to exclude Cottham didn't go down well with the home faithful. The Oxford camp wouldn't have much cause for complaint had Johnson been excluded - it's typical that the luck goes your way when the match is already won! Frampton & Johnson completed the formality of a 5-0 in the re-run (34-51).
Betson had one last chance to prevent Mear's maximum in Heat 15, but Halsey straightened up on the second bend and took both himself and Betson out wide close to the fence. Both lost considerable ground, but incredibly referee Entwistle let the race continue. It left Campos in second place behind Mear, Betson moved past his team-mate after a couple of laps, but Campos then held off considerable pressure from Halsey on the final lap to keep hold of third place (37-54).
Oxford have now won eight and drawn one of their 10 league matches, with one solitary defeat. The Cheetahs sit in third place in the league table, but have rode five matches less than second-placed Weymouth, and are only four points behind league leaders Scunthorpe - with a match in hand.
RYE HOUSE RAIDERS 37
Karlis Ezergailis 1* 1 3 1 R (6+1)
Rider replacement - Ben Powell
Robert Mear 3 3 3 3 6! 3 (21)
Gary Cottham MX 0 1 R FX (1)
Daniel Halsey 2 2 1 1 1 0 (7)
Nick Laurence 2 0 0 0 0 (2)
Kye Norton MX TX F MX MX (0)
Team manager: Len Silver
OXFORD LCD PUBLISHING CHEETAHS 54
Lee Smethills 3 1* 2 3 2* (11+2)
Kyle Hughes 0 1* 2* R 2* (5+3)
Jordan Frampton 2 3 2* 2 3 (12+1)
Rider replacement - Andrew Bargh
Danny Betson 3 2 2 3 3 2 (15)
Scott Campos 1 0 0 1* (2+1)
Brendan Johnson 3 1 2 1* 2* (9+2)
Team manager: Allen Trump
Referee: Dale Entwistle
! = tactical ride
HEAT DETAILS:
1: Smethills (O), Halsey (R), Ezergailis (R), Hughes (O), 58.1 (3-3).
2: Johnson (O), Laurence (R), Campos (O), Norton (R) (excluded, two minutes), 60.0 (5-7).
3: Mear (R), Frampton (O), Smethills (O), Laurence (R), Cottham (R) (excluded, two minutes), 58.1 (8-10).
4: (Re-run) Betson (O), Halsey (R), Johnson (O), Norton (R) (excluded, touched tapes), 59.4 (10-14).
5: Mear (R), Smethills (O), Hughes (O), Cottham (R), 59.0 (13-17).
6: Mear (R), Betson (O), Ezergailis (R), Campos (O), 59.1 (17-19).
7: (Re-run twice) Frampton (O), Hughes (O), Halsey (R), Laurence (R), 59.0 (18-24).
8: Ezergailis (R), Johnson (O), Hughes (O) (ret), Norton (R) (fell), 60.8 (21-26).
9: Mear (R), Betson (O), Cottham (R), Campos (O), 59.2 (25-28).
10: Betson (O), Frampton (O), Ezergailis (R), Cottham (R) (ret), 59.5 (26-33).
11: Smethills (O), Hughes (O), Halsey (R), Laurence (R), 59.6 (27-38).
12: Mear (R) (tactical ride), Frampton (O), Johnson (O), Laurence (R), Norton (R) (excluded, two minutes), 59.7 (33-41).
13: Betson (O), Smethills (O), Halsey (R), Ezergailis (R) (ret), 59.5 (34-46).
14: (Re-run) Frampton (O), Johnson (O), Cottham (R) (fell, excluded), Norton (excluded, two minutes), 59.3 (34-51).
15: Mear (R), Betson (O), Campos (O), Halsey (R), 60.5 (37-54).
REPORT: ROB PEASLEY
RYE HOUSE RAIDERS 37 OXFORD LCD PUBLISHING CHEETAHS 54
Oxford win aggregate point by 104-80
(Conference League)
Oxford Cheetahs warmed up perfectly for the big Bank Holiday cup clash with Plymouth with an emphatic 54-37 victory in a Conference League match at Rye House.
It was a fairly close fought affair for most of the night, with Cheetahs leading by 3 points after nine races (28-25), but the visitors then powered away in the final stages, with four maximum heat advantages in the final six heats.
The Cheetahs just had too much all-round strength for the home side, who relied almost entirely on the efforts of Robert Mear. Mear picked up a superb 21 point maximum for the Raiders, but his team-mates managed just 16 points between them.
New signing Scott Campos - a recent addition to the Oxford squad - made his debut for Cheetahs, and scored a creditable 2 paid 3 from the reserve berth.
Lee Smethills won a shared opener, ahead of Daniel Halsey and Karlis Ezergailis (bizarrely just referred to as "Karlis" by the Rye programme and announcer - due to misspellings and misprounoucements of his surname!), with Kyle Hughes unable to recover after a poor start (3-3).
Grade 1 rider Kye Norton, younger brother of former Oxford star Danny Norton, was drafted into the Raiders line-up at No. 7 but a nightmare evening for the 15-year-old commenced when he looped his bike prior to the start of Heat 2 and was unable to fire it back into action. With Norton excluded under the two-minute allowance, Brendan Johnson and Scott Campos flew from the tapes for the Cheetahs, but Nick Laurence relieved Campos of second place on lap 2 (5-7).
Gary Cottham became the second Raider to suffer a two-minute exclusion in Heat 3, while Mear showed he was up for it, by storming around the outside on the opening half-lap to head home Jordan Frampton & Smethills (8-10).
Heat 4 saw a dubious tapes exclusion for Norton, as it appeared that Johnson had moved first. In the re-run, Halsey was the early leader, but he was passed in fine style by Danny Betson at the halfway stage of the race, with Betson fearlessly charging around his opponent (10-14).
Cottham was close to another two-minute exclusion in Heat 5. The race was shared, with Mear seeing off an early challenge from Smethills (13-17).
Heat 6 saw a terrific battle between Mear and Betson. Mear gated, then Betson tried inside and out to try to overhaul his opponent. The battle went right down to the final corner, where a last gasp attempt by Betson around the outside was unsuccessful. With Ezergailis in third, Rye House took their first heat advantage of the night (17-19).
It took three attempts to complete Heat 7. First time around, Hughes moved at the tapes and the race was halted, with Frampton in front. At the second attempt, Halsey straightened up entering the first turn, with the result that Halsey, Frampton and Laurence all became tangled up and locked together. Laurence fell, and appeared to be run over by Frampton's machine, as the three riders came to a gradual stop by the first bend fence in an unusual looking incident. All four riders came back for the second re-run, where Frampton and Hughes took a 5-1 to move Oxford six points into the lead (18-24).
Rye House No. 1 Ezergailis found 15-year-old Johnson a real handful in Heat 8 as the two riders battled for the lead. Johnson edged momentarily under Ezergailis on the third turn, with Ezergailis regaining the initiative as they completed the opening lap. Fourth-placed Norton fell on the second bend of lap 2 and did well to clear the track in time to allow the race to continue. Coming off the fourth bend of lap 3, third-placed Hughes suffered an engine failure and pulled onto the centre green. Hughes realised his mistake afterwards, as he could have pushed home for a point, but these things can happen in a sport where split-second decisions are made (Sky viewers will have recently seen a repeat of the classic 2004 Wolves v Ipswich play-off encounter where British captain Scott Nicholls made a similar mistake) - and Hughes, still only 18-years-old, will have no doubt have learnt from the experience (21-26).
Cottham gated in Heat 9, but was rounded on the second bend by Betson, with Mear, in turn, going around the outside down the back straight to move from third to first. Spectacular stuff, with all three side-by-side at one point. The race then settled down as a 4-2 to Rye (25-28).
Frampton was taken wide in a ferocious first bend in Heat 10, with Cottham left leading from Betson and Ezergailis. However, Betson blasted around Cottham on the fourth turn to take the lead, with Frampton slotting inside Ezergailis at the same point. At the midway stage of the stage, Cottham suffered a puncture and Frampton came through to join Betson for a 5-1 (26-33).
Smethills & Hughes then led Halsey & Laurence all the way in Heat 11, for a second successive maximum for the Cheetahs (27-38).
Mear was nominated as a tactical ride in Heat 12. Norton was still suffering bike problems, excluded under two minutes, and replaced by Laurence. Mear gated, but came under fierce pressure from Frampton on the opening lap. Mear held on, but with Frampton and Johnson in second & third places, the Cheetahs edged towards the winning line (33-41).
Betson & Smethills secured Oxford's fourth successive Conference League win with a no-nonsense 5-1 over Halsey and Ezergailis, with the latter eventually pulling up from fourth place (34-46).
Norton suffered a third exclusion under the two-minute allowance in Heat 14. Frampton & Johnson gated, before Johnson locked up on the third bend. The following Cottham ploughed into him, and both came crashing down to earth. Fortunately both were OK, but referee Dale Entwistle's decision to exclude Cottham didn't go down well with the home faithful. The Oxford camp wouldn't have much cause for complaint had Johnson been excluded - it's typical that the luck goes your way when the match is already won! Frampton & Johnson completed the formality of a 5-0 in the re-run (34-51).
Betson had one last chance to prevent Mear's maximum in Heat 15, but Halsey straightened up on the second bend and took both himself and Betson out wide close to the fence. Both lost considerable ground, but incredibly referee Entwistle let the race continue. It left Campos in second place behind Mear, Betson moved past his team-mate after a couple of laps, but Campos then held off considerable pressure from Halsey on the final lap to keep hold of third place (37-54).
Oxford have now won eight and drawn one of their 10 league matches, with one solitary defeat. The Cheetahs sit in third place in the league table, but have rode five matches less than second-placed Weymouth, and are only four points behind league leaders Scunthorpe - with a match in hand.
RYE HOUSE RAIDERS 37
Karlis Ezergailis 1* 1 3 1 R (6+1)
Rider replacement - Ben Powell
Robert Mear 3 3 3 3 6! 3 (21)
Gary Cottham MX 0 1 R FX (1)
Daniel Halsey 2 2 1 1 1 0 (7)
Nick Laurence 2 0 0 0 0 (2)
Kye Norton MX TX F MX MX (0)
Team manager: Len Silver
OXFORD LCD PUBLISHING CHEETAHS 54
Lee Smethills 3 1* 2 3 2* (11+2)
Kyle Hughes 0 1* 2* R 2* (5+3)
Jordan Frampton 2 3 2* 2 3 (12+1)
Rider replacement - Andrew Bargh
Danny Betson 3 2 2 3 3 2 (15)
Scott Campos 1 0 0 1* (2+1)
Brendan Johnson 3 1 2 1* 2* (9+2)
Team manager: Allen Trump
Referee: Dale Entwistle
! = tactical ride
HEAT DETAILS:
1: Smethills (O), Halsey (R), Ezergailis (R), Hughes (O), 58.1 (3-3).
2: Johnson (O), Laurence (R), Campos (O), Norton (R) (excluded, two minutes), 60.0 (5-7).
3: Mear (R), Frampton (O), Smethills (O), Laurence (R), Cottham (R) (excluded, two minutes), 58.1 (8-10).
4: (Re-run) Betson (O), Halsey (R), Johnson (O), Norton (R) (excluded, touched tapes), 59.4 (10-14).
5: Mear (R), Smethills (O), Hughes (O), Cottham (R), 59.0 (13-17).
6: Mear (R), Betson (O), Ezergailis (R), Campos (O), 59.1 (17-19).
7: (Re-run twice) Frampton (O), Hughes (O), Halsey (R), Laurence (R), 59.0 (18-24).
8: Ezergailis (R), Johnson (O), Hughes (O) (ret), Norton (R) (fell), 60.8 (21-26).
9: Mear (R), Betson (O), Cottham (R), Campos (O), 59.2 (25-28).
10: Betson (O), Frampton (O), Ezergailis (R), Cottham (R) (ret), 59.5 (26-33).
11: Smethills (O), Hughes (O), Halsey (R), Laurence (R), 59.6 (27-38).
12: Mear (R) (tactical ride), Frampton (O), Johnson (O), Laurence (R), Norton (R) (excluded, two minutes), 59.7 (33-41).
13: Betson (O), Smethills (O), Halsey (R), Ezergailis (R) (ret), 59.5 (34-46).
14: (Re-run) Frampton (O), Johnson (O), Cottham (R) (fell, excluded), Norton (excluded, two minutes), 59.3 (34-51).
15: Mear (R), Betson (O), Campos (O), Halsey (R), 60.5 (37-54).
REPORT: ROB PEASLEY