Todd Wiltshire beat Poole spearhead Bjarne Pedersen three times last night, but still ended up on the wrong side of a 15-point defeat.

The Oxford rider was in superlative form in Dorset, but even his 15-point haul, which included a tactical rider triumph, couldn't save the Cheetahs from heavy defeat in the Elite League.

Oxford have yet to win away in the league this season.

Not many men will go to Wimborne Road this year and come away with a hat-trick of victories over Pedersen on his home track.

But fast-gating Wiltshire did just that. And he might even have made it four as he led Pedersen from the traps in heat 15 before being overtaken by the Dane and Antonio Lindback on the first lap.

Wiltshire outgated Pedersen to claim a convincing tapes-to-flag victory in heat one before Oxford surprisingly went 7-5 in front with an Eric Andersson-Mathieu Tresarrieu 4-2 in the next race.

The Aussie passed Grzegorz Walasek to claim second behind Lindback who went on to grab a 16 paid 18 point maximum in heat five.

Then Wiltshire, going for double points, edged out Pedersen in a titanic heat 11 battle that saw the Oxford rider remain composed with the Poole man on his back wheel for four laps.

The Cheetah, who lacked convincing support from his teammates, completed a third successive triumph over Pedersen in race 13, winning from tapes-to-flag again.

But the Pirate got his revenge in the last race as Pedersen and Lindback both came from behind to head Wiltshire and clinch Poole's 55-40 victory ahead of tonight's league return at Cowley.

While worries persist about their poor away form, Cheetahs will be confident of victory on their home patch against the Pirates, having beaten local rivals Swindon Robins so convincingly at Cowley Stadium last week.

Poole: Pedersen13+2, Boyce 12+2, Walasek 9, Lindback16+2, Davidsson 1, Tacey 4+1. 55pts.

Oxford: Wiltshire 15, Eriksson 2, Watt 6+1, Howe 5, Skornicki 5, Tresarrieu 2+1, Andersson 5+2. 40pts.