Eastbourne 50, Oxford Cheetahs 40 (agg 87-93)

JT/FOX Oxford Cheetahs safely navigated their way through to the semi-finals of the Knockout Cup with a sparkling display at Arlington on Saturday night, writes LEON HILL.

Cheetahs were always going to be up against it as the Dryml brothers, Ales and Lukas, were in Slovenia for a World Championship qualifier.

Steve Jackson

Rider replacement was used for Lukas, while Hull's Garry Stead came in as a guest for Ales.

With a healthy 16-point lead from the first leg, it was always going to be a tactical night, and the management team of Colin Meredith and Richard Palmer certainly had to work hard.

The Eagles went into an early lead, just as they had done on Friday night at Oxford, and held a ten-point lead by heat three.

This was increased to 12 after a tough 4-2 advantage in heat five, but after that, things started to go Oxford's way.

Leigh Adams became the only rider to lower the colours of Eagles legend Martin Dugard, and with guest Garry Stead battling through for third, it gave Oxford their first heat advantage of the night.

This was quickly followed by an excellent 5-1 from the Steve Johnston/Todd Wiltshire pairing, bringing the difference down to just six points.

Heat eight saw the Eagles fighting back thanks to a lightning gate from reserve Joonas Kylmakorpi.

Two drawn heats followed before the Eagles pushed ahead further as Adams suffered an uncharacteristic last place.

Eastbourne then won heat 13 to seal victory on the night, but the 38-point target Cheetahs needed to go through was only five points away.

Johnston came in as a tactical substitute for Stead and, together with Wiltshire, got the Oxford fans the result they wanted with a breathtaking 5-1 from the gate in heat 14.

There was no more that the Eagles could do, and although they registered a heat win in the last, it was all to no avail.

Oxford now await the draw for the semi-finals, which will be held next month. The other sides still in contention are Peterborough, Kings Lynn and Poole.

Eastbourne: M Dugard 14, B Werner 2, D Barker 12, S Andersson 4+2, D Norris 8, J Kylmakorpi 7+1, M Andersson 3.

Oxford: B Andersen 8, S Johnston 12+1, T Wiltshire 7+3, L Adams 9+1, A Appleton 0, G Stead 4.

HEAT BY HEAT

Heat 1: Dugard, Andersen, Werner, Appleton. 57.5 secs.

Heat 2: M Andersson, Kylmakorpi, Stead, Appleton. 58.6.

Heat 3: Barker, S Andersson, Johnston, Wiltshire. 58.3

Heat 4: Norris, Stead, Adams, M Andersson (f/ex). 58.3 (rerun).

Heat 5: Barker, Andersen, S Andersson, Johnston. 58.0.

Heat 6: Adams, Dugard, Stead, Werner. 57.5.

Heat 7: Johnston, Wiltshire, Norris, Kylmakorpi (f/ex). 58.4 (rerun).

Heat 8: Kylmakorpi, Andersen, Werner, Stead. 58.8.

Heat 9: Adams, Barker, S Andersson, Appleton. 58.2

Heat 10 : Dugard, Johnston, Wiltshire, Werner 58.9.

Heat 11: Norris, Andersen, Kylmakorpi, Adams. 57.9.

Heat 12: Barker, Wiltshire, Johnston, M Andersson. 58.3.

Heat 13: Dugard, Adams, Norris, Andersen. 58.3.

Heat 14: Johnston, Wiltshire, Kylmakorpi, Andersen. 59.0.

Heat 15: Dugard, Johnston, Barker, Wiltshire. 58.4.