Tough day for the Tigers
The Middlesbrough “Heat Floors” Tigers went down 55-34 against the Oxford Chargers after a tough afternoon in Oxfordshire. The in-form Luke KIlleen and Jason Garrad hit 12 for the victorious hosts whilst Ben Trigger notched 9 for the Tigers.
The Chargers number 1, Killeen opened proceedings with a heat win, both with Ben Rathbone and Jade Mudgway packing the minor placings after Wayne Hutt fell, the Tigers were level with their hosts. The Chargers hit their first maximum heat advantage in heat 2 as the reserve partnership of Ashton Vale and Senna Summers led comfortably to send the 2023 WSRA National League winners into a 8-4 lead.
After Jacob Clouting first touched the tapes and was then excluded after crashing, the Chargers took their third chequered flag, this time courtesy of Garrad, but with Danny Phillips and Jamie Halder in 2nd and 3rd respectively, the Tigers remained within touching distance.
Nevertheless, Middlesbrough hit back in heat 4, but not before some rare scenes in the original staging. After 2 laps, the race was stopped with the starting stick (used to ensure the tapes remain as still as possible) was mistakenly left on track with the referee stopping the race. The first attempt at a re-run saw Jody Scott fall in the early stages with the Chargers heat leader excluded from the re-run. The third and final staging saw Trigger take the win, and with Kai Ward ahead of Senna Summers, the visitors had their first heat advantage of the afternoon.
However, heat 5 saw Oxford re-establish their 4 point advantage after mechanical problems forced Mudgway (who was 2nd at the time) to retire from the race, handing the Chargers a 5-1 and a 17-13 lead on home shale. Heat 6 saw Trigger lead, until Killeen produced a masterful cutback on bend 3 of lap 1 to lead, and to compound Trigger’s misery, the Tigers heatleader fell and was excluded from the re-run. The re-run saw Killeen win, but with Hutt retiring with mechanical gremlins, Will Hocaniuk took second in a rarely seen 3-2 Oxford heat advantage.
The hosts extended their lead further in heat seven with a 4-2 as Scott took his first heat win, and with hotshot reserve Ashton Vale (who scored a superb 11 points) keeping Jamie Halder at the back, the Tigers were well and truly on the back foot. Vale was then back out in heat 8 as he took his second tapes to flag win, and with Summers in 2nd, the Chargers had full control.
After a pair of shared heats won by Trigger and Killeen respectively, the Chargers took their second 4-2 heat advantage as Scott held off Rathbone, but with Summers in 3rd after Mudgway broke down in the early stages, the Chargers held a mammoth 13 point lead. Heat advantages were becoming the order of the day as Garrad won, and with Vale in 3rd ahead of Hocaniuk, Oxford had tied up the match with 3 heats to spare.
Killeen and Scott then combined for a big 5-1 in heat 13 as they got the better of Trigger and Mudgway to further extend the home side’s dominance on proceedings. After a shared heat 14 won by Vale, the Chargers rounded off a superb display with a 4-2 as Scott just about held off Trigger for the win, and with Garrad 3rd, Oxford had a 21 point win on an almost perfect day on home soil.
Oxford = 55
1. Luke Killeen = 12
2. Wayne Hutt = 0
3. Jason Garrad = 12
4. Jacob Clouting = 3+2
5. Jody Scott = 11+1
6. Ashton Vale = 11
7. Senna Summers = 6+2
Middlesbrough = 34
1. Jade Mudgway = 1+1
2. Ben Rathbone = 6
3. Danny Phillips = 8
4. Jamie Halder = 4+2
5. Ben Trigger = 9
6. William Hocaniuk = 2
7. Kai Ward = 4+2