Oxford Spires beat Leicester Lions in Premiership meeting

All but one meeting featuring the Spires at Oxford Stadium so far this season has been a last heat decider and it happened again, with Rohan Tungate and Maciej Janowski both passing Sam Masters in the final race to secure a dramatic victory.

The results moved Spires back into the top four and the play-off places at the expense of the Lions.

Spires took the lead with a 5-1 from Tungate and Charles Wright over Max Fricke in Heat 1, and led 28-20 after eight races, with Lions having already used their tactical substitute when Fricke came in to win Heat 7.

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On Sunday, 16-year-old Ashton Boughen became the youngest rider to finish on the rostrum of the British Under-21 Championship since three-time world champion Tai Woffinden in 2007.

At Sandy Lane, Boughen scored six points, including three victories over Sam Hagon, the newly crowned British Under-21 Champion, in Heats 2, 4 and 8.

But Lions then edged back into the meeting and reduced the deficit to just two points in Heat 12. That race saw Lewis Kerr and Erik Riss emerge in front, only for the referee to stop the race and warn Leicester’s Craig Cook for moving at the start. It was then Cook and teammate Luke Becker who took a 5-1 in the re-run.

Fricke ended the unbeaten run of Tungate after a fierce battle in the opening exchanges of Heat 13, while Oxford skipper Chris Harris took third, after bombing under Masters on the third bend of the final lap. Harris had earlier passed Hagon in Heat 4 and Fricke in Heat 11, both times in the latter half of the race.

Spires maintained their two-point lead when Janowski used the outside line to move from third to first in Heat 14, snatching the verdict from Ryan Douglas in a photo finish to the delight of the home support.

Lions made the quickest starts in Heat 15 and could have snatched victory with a 5-1. When Tungate thrust himself under Masters at the start of the second lap, it looked like the clash could be heading for a Super Heat.

But Janowski again used the outside line to great effect and roared under Masters on the final bend of the third lap to a deafening roar from another bumper crowd for Spires.

Tungate top-scored for Spires with 13 points, while the key overtakes by Janowski in Heats 14 and 15 proved vital to the outcome.

He said: “I’m happy to score more points for the team and I have trained hard. I’m still looking to score more points, but I helped the team and that’s good.”