THE Cab Direct Championship Grand Final will be contested by Oxford and Poole.
The Cheetahs survived a spirited fightback from Scunthorpe in Wednesday night’s semi-final, second leg, to finally secure their spot in the decider courtesy of a 49-41 win on the night and a 95-85 aggregate triumph. But after winning Friday’s first leg at the Eddie Wright Raceway by two points, Oxford were given a real scare by the Scorpions, who led by four points on the night after nine races and by two after Heat 12, at which stage the aggregate scores were tied at 81-81. Cheetahs’ top two, Sam Masters and Scott Nicholls, steered Oxford home with 5-1s in heats 13 and 15, although the last heat was irrelevant after a 4-2 from guest Dan Gilkes and Luke Killeen in Heat 14 had wrapped things up. Oxford team manager Peter Schroeck said: “We knew Scunthorpe would throw everything at us. They wanted to bite us, and it took us a long time to find our feet. “Reaching the Final was never going to be easy, but we’ve got there and I couldn’t be any prouder of our riders – the lads had to dig deep tonight. “A big thank you to our guest Dan Gilkes, who has fitted right in with the team over the two legs. Going into Heat 14, he knew what we needed him to do, and he did it. That was the match-winning ride.” Scunthorpe manager David Howe said: “The realist in me knew heats 13 and 15 were always going to be tough and possibly it was a little bit of a far-off dream for us to come and win here. “We lost this tie in our home leg. I must admit halfway through the meeting I almost dared to dream, but I’m proud of the guys. “We let ourselves down, we let the fans down and we let the club down on Friday, but the guys have redeemed themselves tonight. We’ve missed out overall but I’m proud of every single one of them tonight.” Dates for the final have already been confirmed. Oxford will host the first leg next Wednesday (September 25) with the return at Poole, who defeated Workington in the other semi-final, on Friday, September 27.
PICTURE: Scunthorpe's Connor Mountain ahead of Sam Masters (red) and Cameron Heeps. Picture: LES AUBREY
