OXFORD Cheetahs maintained their 100 per cent bonus point record for the second year, despite narrowly losing their final Championship fixture of the season.

Their 46-44 defeat at Glasgow Tigers ensured that Cheetahs have not scored less than 43 points in any league fixture this season, a record no other team can claim.

Cheetahs went into the meeting coming off their 95-85 aggregate win against Redcar Bears, to book a place in the Championship Knockout Cup final.

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Ashton Boughen’s first ever maximum at Championship level, with a 15-point haul, ensured Cheetahs reached a Knockout Cup final for the first time since 1997, when they lost to Edinburgh Monarchs in the Premier League Knockout Cup final.

The last time that Oxford won the Knockout Cup outright was in 1985, when Cheetahs beat Ipswich Witches 79-76, as Simon Wigg and Troy Butler passed Jeremy Doncaster at Cowley.

Cheetahs also shared the silverware with Cradley Heath the following year, when the home leg was twice rained off, and the away leg had ended in a 39-39 draw.

Against Tigers in their final Championship meeting of the season, Cheetahs were again without Cameron Heeps and Jordan Jenkins, and found themselves 10 points down after four heats.

The fourth heat saw Cheetahs skipper Scott Nicholls penalised and forced to start on a 15-metre handicap, although despite moving, it didn’t appear he touched the tapes with his front wheel.

Nicholls took the rider replacement ride in Heat 5 with Sam Masters, and Cheetahs raced to a tapes to chequered flag maximum.

Masters then came in as a tactical substitute in Heat 7, and partnered with Boughen for another Cheetahs maximum heat win, with the gap down to four points.

The next four heats were drawn, with the Oxford rider providing each heat winner, but unable to get the second man into a scoring position.

A battling ride by Luke Killeen saw the Australian overcome Matic Ivacic for third place in Heat 11, and Killeen repeated the feat in the following heat to bring the scores level.

With the bonus point secure, and no further impact on the league table possible, Tigers claimed a 4-2 win in Heat 13, and maintained the advantage until the end of the night.

Attention now turns to Sandy Lane on Wednesday night, as Cheetahs welcome Scunthorpe Scorpions in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-finals.

Heeps and Jenkins will face late fitness tests before they can be confirmed in the line-up, with Heeps suffering from a hand injury, and Jenkins dealing with a wrist problem sustained in the first leg of the Knockout Cup semi-final.