OXFORD Silver Machine took revenge for a first-leg drubbing to clinch a superb 49-41 victory in last night's Knock-Out Cup clash at Oxford Stadium against Belle Vue Aces.

A sparkling final heat from Niels Kristian Iversen and Greg Hancock, relegating world champion Jason Crump to last place, confirmed the win and made up for the disappointment of Oxford's overall 100-84 defeat in the tie.

Promoter Nigel Wagstaff said: "It's great to get another victory - it was certainly needed. We have now beaten the top two teams in the Elite League, but there was too much damage done at Belle Vue for us to progress any further."

Hancock and Iversen were joined on paid 12 points by the ever-improving Swedish ace Henka Gustafsson and were the inspiration for the Silver Machine's victory.

It was a tall order trying to peg back a deficit of 24 points from Monday's first leg, but to their credit, the home side gave it a go.

However, it didn't start the way they wanted as Kenneth Bjerre and the excellent Simon Stead saw the Aces open in great style with a maximum, putting Oxford deeper in the mire.

Henka Gustafsson, joined by his new partner Tomasz Bajerski, again showed what a talent he is by coming from the back to see off British champion Joe Screen in great style, and with Bajerski picking up third, there was still a long way to go in the meeting.

However, the Aces were playing it cagey and making sure they didn't lose too many heat advantages, and it allowed the Silver Machine to level things at 18-18 through a 4-2 from Hancock and McGowan over Crump in heat six.

Andersson took Andy Smith in the next heat, before Gustafsson and McGowan hit a big 5-1, giving their side the lead for the first time on the night, 26-22.

They increased their advantage to eight points in heat ten as Hancock and McGowan again worked the oracle, but overall victory was never on.

Bajerski gated well in the next heat but lost out and eventually retired with engine problems. However, he was definitely a plus in the reserve spot.

Heat 13 proved a cracker, with Crump soon passing Hancock out of the second bend, but the Oxford skipper would not give in and was all over the world champion right up to the line.

Come the final reckoning, Iversen and Hancock had to battle hard to overcome Crump and Bjerre, but what a race it was.

The Oxford pair just got the upper hand out of the second bend, with the Aces duo up their exhausts. Bjerre did get past Iversen, but the Dane roared into overdrive out of the pits bend to regain second place, before going on to win and cement a fine victory.