OXFORD Silver Machine served up their worst display of the season fas they lost 54-40 to Elite League rivals Coventry Bees at Oxford Stadium last night.

Never in the hunt after being caught out early, they won only four races, and finished last eight times.

Too many riders were out of touch against a Bees side determined to keep their recent good spell going.

Only Niels Kristian Iversen, Greg Hancock and debutant Henka Gustafsson can hold their heads high.

Promoter Nigel Wagstaff said: "Again, we went behind early and were always playing catch-up. They were a lot smarter than us out of the gate and it's something we will have to work on."

The early buzz from the Bees caught the Silver Machine on the hop as they quickly went ten points down after only four heats, forcing Wagstaff to bring in a tactical rider in Kristian Iversen.

Once again, the Dane worked the oracle and although Jesper Jensen suffered an engine failure which somewhat negated the move, it gave Oxford a 6-3 advantage in heat five.

Things took a step in the right direction as Travis McGowan and Hancock plundered a 5-1 to put the home side right back in it at 18-21, but the Bees hit back with a 4-2, confirming they were not going to lie down lightly after their record defeat here last year.

Gustafsson, who made a decent debut in heat two, looked to have heat eight in the bag until Chris Harris wore him down, passing on the outside of the final lap.

Oxford had won only three heats by the interval at heat ten, but more importantly occupied six last places, and had it all to do in the second

half.

Andreas Jonsson and Harris left Stefan Andersson and Tom Madsen for dead to romp home for maximum points and things were looking even more ominous for the home side.

It was all but over soon after when despite Jensen coming as a tactical, he could do little to stop Rory Schlein and Tomas Topinka slamming in another full house.

Much depended on the ever-reliable Hancock to stem the flow in the vital heat 13, but it didn't happen. Although he got away well in second behind fellow world-class stars Jonsson and Scott Nicholls, he could never make any headway, giving the Bees a 15-4 advantage since the interval.

There was only pride left now in trying to keep the scores down in readiness for the return leg at Coventry tonight as Gustafsson won heat 14 in good style, but the Bees had the last laugh as Jonsson took the final heat.