Oxford Cheetahs 45, Swindon Robins 45

A BRILLIANT last-ditch effort from Jason Crump earned Gresham Cheetahs a fighting draw in their Elite League derby clash against Swindon at the Stadium last night.

It was a gutsy effort by the home side as they had to tackle the Robins without key man Jan Staechmann who broke a wrist while guesting for King's Lynn on Wednesday.

Likely to be without the Dane for the remaining matches, Oxford promoter Steve Purchase acted quickly to sign Australian Shane Parker on loan.

But despite his club, King's Lynn, and the rider agreeing the move, the BSPA turned it down because they reckoned it wasn't in the best interests of speedway.The decision left Purchase an angry man.

Still hoping for a play-off spot to overtake the Robins, Oxford were up against it from the outset.

Steve Schofield took over most of Staechmann's rides with Paul Hurry able to take one.

The teams were locked together for most of the meeting, but in heat 10 the contest came alive as Crump made up an enormous amount of ground to fly past Leigh Adams.

The Robins hit back through Chris Louis to level matters again in the next before the drama really started as Todd Wiltshire snapped a chain on the grid in heat 12 as the Robins edged ahead again. Crump almost hit the tapes in heat 13 but still beat Louis out of the gate and the home fans were on their toes as Hurry flew past the British champion for what looked like a 5-1 until Louis stormed back past Hurry.

Then in an agonising heat 14, Wiltshire, so keen to get a flyer, almost rammed the tapes, but thankfully the referee ordered all four back and after an agonising wait for the restart, the Robins pair of Andy Smith and John Jorgensen had the edge with Smith taking Wiltshire right out of things.

That left the Robins 43-41 ahead with the final heat to come and what a cracker.

Crump and Wiltshire flew the gate but wily campaigner Louis tucked in inside the Oxford pair to go clear until Crump drove past Louis.

With Wiltshire taking care of Adams, Cheetahs pulled it out of the fire to take the bonus point, but it all points to Swindon getting through to the play-offs.

Oxford: Crump 16+1, Schofield 9+1, Hurry 9+1, Wiltshire 9, Johnston 2+1. 45 pts.

Swindon: Louis 14, Adams 9, Jorgensen 8, Smith 8, Nicholls 5, Gjedde 1. 45 pts. HEAT DETAILS

Heat 1: Crump, Louis, Nicholls, Johnston 60.4 secs. Heat 2: Schofield, Hurry, Gjedde, Smith 61.6. Heat 3: no details. Heat 4: Adams, Hurry, Smith, Schofield 60.0. Heat 5: Wiltshire, Louis, Nicholls, Hurry (ret) 60.8. Heat 6: Adams, Crump, Johnston, Gjedde 59.7. Heat 7: Jorgensen, Hurry, Schofield, Nicholls 60.2. Heat 8: Smith, Nicholls, Schofield, Johnston 60.1. Heat 9: Wiltshire, Crump, Adams, Gjedde 59.9. Heat 10: Crump, Adams, Johnston, Jorgensen 59.3. Heat 11: Louis, Hurry, Nicholls, Schofield 59.7. Heat 12: Jorgensen, Schofield, Smith, Wiltshire (e/f) 60.5. Heat 13: Crump, Louis, Hurry, Adams 59.3. Heat 14: Smith, Schofield, Jorgensen, Wiltshire 60.1. Heat 15: Crump, Louis, Wiltshire, Adams 59.4.

AMERICA won the World Team Cup in Vojens, Denmark last night beating Sweden in to second place.

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