Lions facing the unknown when they visit Cheetahs
FIRST TIME LEICESTER HAVE RIDDEN AT COWLEY STADIUM SINCE 1980
LEICESTER Lions bring to a close their away fixtures in the Championship tomorrow night with a visit to Oxford Cheetahs, writes Alan Jones.
With no injury concerns following their win against Birmingham in Saturday’s Midlands derby clash at the Paul Chapman and Sons Arena, the team is unchanged.
Since the two sides last met in May at Leicester, the Cheetahs have been strengthened by the arrival of two former Lions riders, Paul Starke from Newcastle, and Aaron Summers. who has come out of retirement to race for the club.
Leicester’s co-promoter David Darcy said: “Despite missing a good part of the season, Aaron (Summers) has given Oxford a new dimension and truthfully his presence has turned their season around. With the inclusion of Paul Starke too they could be a dark horse for securing one of the play-off places.
“For some of our riders it will be the first time they have raced on the Oxford track so the advantage in the early stages will be in Oxford’s favour. That said, we have the experience in the side to quickly work out the best racing lines and to pass on this knowledge to the younger members of the team.
“I anticipate a close match developing and hopefully we can pick up a match point at the very least.”
The return of speedway to Oxford this season after a 15-year absence has been heralded by British Speedway as the success story of 2022 so far.
Tomorrow’s fixture will mark the first occasion a Leicester team has ridden at the Cowley Stadium since 1980 when the two clubs faced one another in an Inter-League Knockout Cup match.
Teams
Oxford: 1. Scott Nicholls, 2. Cameron Heeps, 3. Paul Starke, 4. Aaron Summers, 5. Troy Batchelor, Dillon Ruml and 7. Jordan Jenkins
Leicester: 1. Nick Morris, 2. Connor Mountain, 3. Richie Worrall, 4. Joe Thompson, 5. Kyle Howarth, 6. Jason Edwards and 7. Dan Thompson
Meanwhile, Leicester’s second team, the Lion Cubs, delivered a stunning performance in Suffolk on Sunday to beat the current league champions Mildenhall on their own track by 50 points to 39.
The margin of the scoreline earned Leicester four away match points and they are now just five points behind league leaders Berwick, having ridden two fixtures less than the Borders club.
Dan and Joe Thompson were at the forefront of the victory as the teenage twins contributed half of the team’s total.
Although they were the two standout performers on the day, there were also match-winning rides from their team-mates with Mickie Simpson and Vinnie Foord, in particular, adding points at vital times of the match.