GRESHAM Extreme Oxford Cheetahs will be aiming for their second Craven Shield speedway double in a week when they take on Hull Vikings at the Stadium tonight (7.30pm).

They came good in the north east with a cracking last heat decider on Wednesday and should be full of confidence.

The unlikely hero on the night was the much maligned Alun Rossiter who has his fair share of stick since joining Cheetahs from neighbours Swindon, but will probably find friends he thought he never had if he can come up with the goods again at home.

The other hero was Paul Hurry whose sterling work saved the day in the final thriller.

Victory will keep Cheetahs in contention at the top of the Shield table.

Todd Wiltshire has made a cracking start to the season and he will be looking to maintain that form to keep the No 1 spot at Cowley.

Fellow Australian Craig Boyce is all out to revive a career that took a dive with his long time club Poole last year and is showing signs that he is on the way.

Those two, together with Hurry and Steve Johnston, should form the engine room that will prove too much for the Vikings. However, in Sam Ermlenko, Joe Screen and Shane Parker, the Vikings have the riders for the job and anything less than their best form from Cheetahs could spell misery.

The flying lap gets proceedings underway at 7.30, followed by the main meeting.

Oxford: Wiltshire, Staechmann, Johnston, Hurry, Boyce, Hare, Rossiter.

Hull: Screen, Thorpe, Parker, Morton, Ermolenko, Stead, Dicken.

Story date: Friday 09 April

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