Lukas Dryml recovered from two early falls to score three straight victories, as Oxford Cheetahs narrowly lost their rain-shortened Elite League B fixture at Belle Vue last night, writes Leon Hill.

Dryml's first misadventure came in the first heat as he ran out of room on the first turn and slid off in what were difficult conditions.

The Aces won the heat with Jason Crump scorching his way home ahead of Leigh Adams.

The track was wet, and as it started to drizzle from the early heats, it became steadily worse.

Mark Lemon won the second heat, with Andre Appleton nowhere, and Oxford looked like they could move ahead in heat three, with Ales Dryml and Steve Johnston gating ahead and set for a maximum.

Sam Ermolenko was having none of it, though, and forced his way past Johnston, although he could get nowhere near Dryml.

It did make the two teams level and that was the story of the next few heats.

Oxford forced their way ahead in the fifth after Lukas Dryml was knocked to the ground by Ermolenko after he had made a superb start to get ahead of the veteran American.

Initially, it looked as though the younger Dryml had picked up an injury as he was clearly in some discomfort on the track.

Worryingly, the medical authorities, who were not situated onthe bends but in a huddle right in the middle of the track, were slow to respond.

By the time they did, Lukas had struggled to his feet and was returning towards the pits.

He had taken a nasty knock to a knee but was able to take his place in the rest of the meeting and went onto record three victories.

The scoreline continued to fluctuate until heat 13, by which time conditions were becoming increasingly difficult.

The Cheetahs pair of Lukas Dryml and Leigh Adams were on he wrong end of a maximum heat.

With Oxford six points down, Adams came in as a tactical substitute in heat 14 and things looked good for the Cheetahs to reduce the deficit.

However, the rain really started to fall and common sense prevailed with the meeting being abandoned.

With more than 12 heats having been run, the result stands and it gives Oxford every chance of the bonus point when the Aces visit Cowley.