Post by Genghis on Oct 13, 2007 14:29:00 GMT
Friday, October 12, 2007
PLYMOUTH DEVILS 58 OXFORD LCD PUBLISHING CHEETAHS 34
Plymouth win 96-76 on aggregate
(Conference Trophy group match)
In a couple of days time, Oxford and Plymouth meet in a vitally important play-off clash at Oxford Stadium. In sharp contrast, last night's Conference Trophy group match at Plymouth meant NOTHING - as the final of the competition between Scunthorpe and Plymouth had been concluded some 40 days previously!
Oxford only had THREE of their regular side available (Kyle Hughes, Sam Martin and Brendan Johnson) - with Jordan Frampton and Andrew Bargh having Premier League commitments, and Lee Smethills, Danny Betson and Scott Campos also unavailable for various reasons. In return, Plymouth had promised to rest a couple of their top riders, but the Cheetahs turned up to find the Devils at full strength.
However, if the Devils were trying to gain a psychological advantage over the Cheetahs, it rather backfired, because their full team made rather a meal of defeating the unusual-looking Oxford side, and after Heat 8, the gap between the two sides stood at just seven points.
Stand-in skipper Kyle Hughes was Oxford's top man. He followed home Plymouth captain Seemond Stephens in Heat 1, and he then thrust inside Rob Smith on the second bend of Heat 5 to stop a run of three successive maximums to the Devils.
Paul Starke made an impressive debut for the Cheetahs, despite riding in the ultra-tough No. 5 berth. In Heat 6, he outgated Tim Webster and forced Webster into a mistake. Webster fell, allowing the Cheetahs to take their first 3-3 of the night in the re-run.
Nicki Glanz looped at the gate in Heat 7 and landed nastily. He was OK, but excluded from the re-run, where Sam Martin led an Oxford 4-2.
Hughes was nominated as a tactical ride in Heat 8. Brendan Johnson led the race, while Hughes muscled past Ben Hopwood into second place. Johnson managed to allow Hughes around him, while keeping Hopwood behind, and the Cheetahs took a 8-1 to reduce the deficit to 29-22.
Oxford's lack of cover told in the following races, and the Devils ended up with successive 5-1s in Heats 12 to 14. However, Johnson was having his best meeting of the season at the St. Bonniface Arena (a track where he had mustered just paid six in his previous four appearances). Inspired by his Heat 8 ride, he challenged Stephens on the opening lap of Heat 10 and was leading Heat 14 at the first attempt before the race was halted.
It had started to drizzle by Heat 15, and Hughes fell whilst leading the final race, after hitting a slimy patch. Martin, last in the original race, made the most of his second chance to win the re-run.
Hughes finished with a 13-point tally, and was backed up by paid nine from Martin and paid eight by Johnson.
PLYMOUTH DEVILS 58
Seemond Stephens 3 3 3 3 (12)
Tim Webster 1 FX 0 R 2 (3)
Tom Brown 2* 3 3 3 (11+1)
Rob Smith 3 1 2* 3 (9+1)
Nicki Glanz 2* FX 3 2* (7+2)
Jaimie Pickard 3 2 1 2* R (8+1)
Ben Hopwood 2* 3 1 2* (8+2)
Team manager: David Short
OXFORD LCD PUBLISHING CHEETAHS 34
Rider relacement - Lee Smethills
Kyle Hughes 2 2 6! 2 1 FX (13)
Sam Martin 1 0 3 1* 0 3 (8+1)
Alex McLeod 0 1 0 (1)
Paul Starke 0 1 1* 1 0 (3+1)
Scott Meakins 0 2 0 FX (2)
Brendan Johnson 1 R 2* 2 1 1 (7+1)
Team manager: Peter Oakes
Referee: Dave Watters
! = tactical ride
HEAT DETAILS:
1: Stephens (P), Hughes (O), Webster (P), Starke (O), 53.34 (4-2)
2: Pickard (P), Hopwood (P), Johnson (O), Meakins (O), 54.66 (9-3).
3: Smith (P), Brown (P), Martin (O), McLeod (O), 53.50 (14-4).
4: (Re-run) Hopwood (P), Glanz (P), Starke (O), Johnson (O), 53.32 (19-5).
5: (Re-run) Brown (P), Hughes (O), Smith (P), Martin (O), 53.19 (23-7).
6: (Re-run twice) Stephens (P), Meakins (O) (penalised 15m for touching tapes), Starke (O) (fell, remounted), Webster (P) (fell, excluded), 53.97 (26-10).
7: Martin (O), Pickard (P), McLeod (O), Glanz (P) (fell, excluded), 53.28 (28-14).
8: Hughes (O) (tactical ride), Johnson (O), Howpood (P), Webster (P), 54.28 (29-22).
9: Brown (P), Smith (P), Starke (O), Meakins (O), 54.19 (34-23).
10: Stephens (P), Johnson (O), Martin (O), Webster (P) (ret), 53.22 (37-26).
11: Glanz (P), Hughes (O), Pickard (P), McLeod (O), 52.56 (41-28).
12: Brown (P), Hopwood (P), Johnson (O), Martin (O), 53.78 (46-29).
13: Stephens (P), Glanz (P), Hughes (O), Starke (O), 53.50 (51-30).
14: (Re-run twice) Smith (P), Pickard (P), Johnson (O), McLeod (O) (fell, excluded), 54.15 (56-31).
15: (Re-run) Martin (O), Webster (P), Pickard (P) (ret), Hughes (O) (fell, excluded), 53.34 (58-34).
REPORT: ROB PEASLEY
PLYMOUTH DEVILS 58 OXFORD LCD PUBLISHING CHEETAHS 34
Plymouth win 96-76 on aggregate
(Conference Trophy group match)
In a couple of days time, Oxford and Plymouth meet in a vitally important play-off clash at Oxford Stadium. In sharp contrast, last night's Conference Trophy group match at Plymouth meant NOTHING - as the final of the competition between Scunthorpe and Plymouth had been concluded some 40 days previously!
Oxford only had THREE of their regular side available (Kyle Hughes, Sam Martin and Brendan Johnson) - with Jordan Frampton and Andrew Bargh having Premier League commitments, and Lee Smethills, Danny Betson and Scott Campos also unavailable for various reasons. In return, Plymouth had promised to rest a couple of their top riders, but the Cheetahs turned up to find the Devils at full strength.
However, if the Devils were trying to gain a psychological advantage over the Cheetahs, it rather backfired, because their full team made rather a meal of defeating the unusual-looking Oxford side, and after Heat 8, the gap between the two sides stood at just seven points.
Stand-in skipper Kyle Hughes was Oxford's top man. He followed home Plymouth captain Seemond Stephens in Heat 1, and he then thrust inside Rob Smith on the second bend of Heat 5 to stop a run of three successive maximums to the Devils.
Paul Starke made an impressive debut for the Cheetahs, despite riding in the ultra-tough No. 5 berth. In Heat 6, he outgated Tim Webster and forced Webster into a mistake. Webster fell, allowing the Cheetahs to take their first 3-3 of the night in the re-run.
Nicki Glanz looped at the gate in Heat 7 and landed nastily. He was OK, but excluded from the re-run, where Sam Martin led an Oxford 4-2.
Hughes was nominated as a tactical ride in Heat 8. Brendan Johnson led the race, while Hughes muscled past Ben Hopwood into second place. Johnson managed to allow Hughes around him, while keeping Hopwood behind, and the Cheetahs took a 8-1 to reduce the deficit to 29-22.
Oxford's lack of cover told in the following races, and the Devils ended up with successive 5-1s in Heats 12 to 14. However, Johnson was having his best meeting of the season at the St. Bonniface Arena (a track where he had mustered just paid six in his previous four appearances). Inspired by his Heat 8 ride, he challenged Stephens on the opening lap of Heat 10 and was leading Heat 14 at the first attempt before the race was halted.
It had started to drizzle by Heat 15, and Hughes fell whilst leading the final race, after hitting a slimy patch. Martin, last in the original race, made the most of his second chance to win the re-run.
Hughes finished with a 13-point tally, and was backed up by paid nine from Martin and paid eight by Johnson.
PLYMOUTH DEVILS 58
Seemond Stephens 3 3 3 3 (12)
Tim Webster 1 FX 0 R 2 (3)
Tom Brown 2* 3 3 3 (11+1)
Rob Smith 3 1 2* 3 (9+1)
Nicki Glanz 2* FX 3 2* (7+2)
Jaimie Pickard 3 2 1 2* R (8+1)
Ben Hopwood 2* 3 1 2* (8+2)
Team manager: David Short
OXFORD LCD PUBLISHING CHEETAHS 34
Rider relacement - Lee Smethills
Kyle Hughes 2 2 6! 2 1 FX (13)
Sam Martin 1 0 3 1* 0 3 (8+1)
Alex McLeod 0 1 0 (1)
Paul Starke 0 1 1* 1 0 (3+1)
Scott Meakins 0 2 0 FX (2)
Brendan Johnson 1 R 2* 2 1 1 (7+1)
Team manager: Peter Oakes
Referee: Dave Watters
! = tactical ride
HEAT DETAILS:
1: Stephens (P), Hughes (O), Webster (P), Starke (O), 53.34 (4-2)
2: Pickard (P), Hopwood (P), Johnson (O), Meakins (O), 54.66 (9-3).
3: Smith (P), Brown (P), Martin (O), McLeod (O), 53.50 (14-4).
4: (Re-run) Hopwood (P), Glanz (P), Starke (O), Johnson (O), 53.32 (19-5).
5: (Re-run) Brown (P), Hughes (O), Smith (P), Martin (O), 53.19 (23-7).
6: (Re-run twice) Stephens (P), Meakins (O) (penalised 15m for touching tapes), Starke (O) (fell, remounted), Webster (P) (fell, excluded), 53.97 (26-10).
7: Martin (O), Pickard (P), McLeod (O), Glanz (P) (fell, excluded), 53.28 (28-14).
8: Hughes (O) (tactical ride), Johnson (O), Howpood (P), Webster (P), 54.28 (29-22).
9: Brown (P), Smith (P), Starke (O), Meakins (O), 54.19 (34-23).
10: Stephens (P), Johnson (O), Martin (O), Webster (P) (ret), 53.22 (37-26).
11: Glanz (P), Hughes (O), Pickard (P), McLeod (O), 52.56 (41-28).
12: Brown (P), Hopwood (P), Johnson (O), Martin (O), 53.78 (46-29).
13: Stephens (P), Glanz (P), Hughes (O), Starke (O), 53.50 (51-30).
14: (Re-run twice) Smith (P), Pickard (P), Johnson (O), McLeod (O) (fell, excluded), 54.15 (56-31).
15: (Re-run) Martin (O), Webster (P), Pickard (P) (ret), Hughes (O) (fell, excluded), 53.34 (58-34).
REPORT: ROB PEASLEY