Oxford Cheetahs 45,

Kings Lynn 45

By JOHN GAISFORD A CONTROVERSIAL last-heat exclusion cost Gresham Oxford Cheetahs outright victory in their Craven Shield clash against the Knights at Oxford Stadium last night.

Steve Johnston, who had ridden a superb race to keep out world champion Tony Rickardsson, was adjudged to have put the Swede into the fence on the last bend of the six-lap final.

The Knights needed to win the last 5-1 to gain the draw, but it didn't look likely until Rickardsson went for a gap that didn't appear to be there. Johnston held his ground and Rickardsson crashed heavily into the fence. Referee Ronnie Allan stopped the race and threw out Johnston for dangerous riding.

Johnston, who won the Rider of the Night, said: "I rode that same line throughout the race, it was just one of those things."

Lawrence Hare was again missing from the line-up due to a stomach bug and rider-replacement was used in his absence. Cheetahs have only themselves to blame for surrendering their 100 per cent home record. They looked to be coasting, having established their superiority early on, but a crucial error in heat 13, where Craig Boyce appeared to hinder Todd Wiltshire, gave the Knights the chance to pull within four points of the home side and set up the grand finale.

Cheetahs had no answer to a superb Leigh Adams whose only blip came in heat 8 where Oxford saw their first-ever Golden Double tactical.

Adams had to start 15 yards back, but whatever he scored would count double. Robbie Kessler shot out to win the race, but superb team riding from Jan Staechmann and Alun Rossiter kept Adams at bay.

Adams ended up with paid 15 points and together with Rickardsson (paid 14) and the excellent Steffan Andersson (13), won ten of the 15 heats on offer and amassed 40 of the Knights' total. The signing of Adams has made all the difference to the Knights.

Johnston is revelling in the reserve spot and finished with paid 12, while Paul Hurry and Staechmann both rode rode well, but the Knights' big guns showed how hard it's going to get in the coming weeks.

However, it could have been oh so different for the home side. At the break they led 40-32 and anything else but a victory was unthinkable until that final flourish from the Knights that also gave them the bonus point. Oxford: Johnston 11+1, Hurry 9+2, Boyce 8+1, Staechmann 7+1, Wiltshire 6+1, Rossiter 4+3. 45 pts.

King's Lynn: Adams 14+1, Rickardsson 13+1, Andersson 13, Kessler 5, Dixon 0, Groves 0, Svab 0. 45 pts.

HEAT DETAILS

Heat 1: Wiltshire, Rickardsson, Staechmann, Groves 60.4 secs.Heat 2: Johnston, Kessler, Rossiter, Dixon 60.9. Heat 3: Hurry, Andersson, Staechmann, Svab (ret) 60.6. Heat 4: Adams, Boyce, Rossiter, Kessler (f) 59.9. Heat 5: Rickardsson, Johnston, Hurry, Groves 60.2. Heat 6: Adams, Wiltshire, Staechmann, Dixon 59.7. Heat 7: Johnston, Adams, Boyce, Svab 60.4. Heat 8: Kessler, Staechmann, Rossiter, Adams 61.2. Heat 9: Adams, Hurry, Boyce, Rickardsson 59.2. Heat 10: Andersson, Staechmann, Wiltshire, Svab 60.3. Heat 11: Rickardsson, Boyce, Johnston, Groves 59.8. Heat 12: Andersson, Hurry, Rossiter, Dixon 61.0. Heat 13: Rickardsson, Adams, Boyce, Wiltshire 60.4. Heat 14: Andersson, Johnston, Hurry, Kessler 61.2. Heat 15: Adams, Rickardsson, Boyce, Johnston (exc/dangerous riding) awarded.

Story date: Saturday 15 May

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.