Thursday 21 October 2004
TEAM ARTDEANS SWINDON SPROCKETS 41
OXFORD SILVER MACHINE ACADEMY 52
Conference League
Oxford won 109-75 on aggregate
| Wayne Carter | R | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | 5 |
| James Purchase | 1 | 1* | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 2(1) |
| Steve Braidford R/R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Danny Warwick | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | - | - | 15 |
| Simon Walker | 1* | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | 9(1) |
| Jordan Frampton | 1 | 0 | R | F | 0 | - | - | 1 |
| Nathan Irwin | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | 8 |
| Marc Andrews (No.8) | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
OXFORD
| Chris Mills | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 8 |
| Ricky Scarboro | 2* | 1* | 3 | 1* | - | - | - | 7(3) |
| Danny Norton | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2* | - | - | 9(1) |
| Ben Barker | 2 | 1* | 1* | 1* | - | - | - | 5(3) |
| Chris Schramm | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | 15 |
| Jason Newitt | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Jamie Courtney | 2 | 0 | 2* | 1 | 2 | - | - | 7(1) |
| Ht 1: Mills, Scarboro, Purchase, Carter (ret), 73.27 | (1-5) |
| Ht 2: (Re-Run) Irwin, Courtney, Frampton, Newitt, 72.99 | (5-7) |
| Ht 3: Warwick, Barker, Andrews, Norton (f, rem), 71.92 | (9-9) |
| Ht 4: Schramm, Irwin, Walker, Courtney, 71.49 | (12-12) |
| Ht 5: Warwick, Mills, Scarboro, Frampton, 72.05 | (15-15) |
| Ht 6: Schramm, Carter, Purchase, Newitt, 71.27 | (18-18) |
| Ht 7: Walker, Norton, Barker, Irwin, 73.36 | (21-21) |
| Ht 8: Scarboro, Courtney, Irwin, Purchase, 73.52 | (22-26) |
| Ht 9: Schramm, Warwick, Newitt, Frampton (f, rem, ret), 72.74 | (24-30) |
| Ht 10: (Re-Run) Carter, Norton, Barker, Purchase, 72.86 | (27-33) |
| Ht 11: Walker, Mills, Scarboro, Frampton (fell), 72.99 | (30-36) |
| Ht 12: (Re-Run) Norton, Irwin (15 met), Courtney, Andrews, 73.84 | (32-40) |
| Ht 13: Schramm, Walker, Mills, Carter (TR), 71.21 | (34-44) |
| Ht 14: Warwick (TR), Courtney, Barker, Frampton (f, rem), 73.49 | (40-47) |
| Ht 15: (Nominated) Schramm (y), Norton (g), Warwick (r), Irwin (b), 71.33 | (41-52) |
Programme changes:-
Ht 3: R/R Andrews
Ht 9: R/R Frampton
Ht 12: R/R Andrews; Courtney replaced Newitt
Ht 13: TR Carter
Ht 14: TR Warwick (Double points)
Following their ten-point defeat at the hands of Rye House, the Team Artdeans Sprockets faced another stern test against Oxford in the second part of their double-header. Swindon had planned to promote Danny Betson to the number three position for the match, but the Eastbourne-born youngster was unfortunately ruled out of further action after taking a knock to the head in the ninth heat of the first fixture versus the Raiders. This meant a continuation of the rider replacement facility, with Marc Andrews taking over as the number eight.
From the inside gate, Wayne Carter made a good start to lead the opening heat, but with the race in the bag, he frustratingly suffered a mechanical problem on the back straight of the final lap, allowing the visiting duo of Chris Mills and Ricky Scarboro to card maximum points. Following an unsatisfactory start, a re-run reserves’ race saw Irwin reveal his exceptional talent to beat Jamie Courtney with assurance, while a good point from Jordan Frampton gave the Team Artdeans Sprockets a first advantage of the match.
Swindon recorded a second 4-2 in the next race; ever-present teamster Danny Warwick racing to victory from Ben Barker in his familiar upright style, while Andrews scooped the remaining point after Danny Norton had taken a mid-race fall. With parity restored, heat four was shared, but only after an incident-packed duel. Chris Schramm got the drop and was tailed up the back straight by Simon Walker. A mistake saw the spectacular Bristolian lose position on the third corner, with Irwin cleverly nipping past Courtney as he went from fourth to second at one fell swoop. With Schramm out of site, Irwin had to work hard to keep Courtney at bay, with Walker all the time striving to get back into the frame. This he did in hair-raising fashion on the fourth lap, finally rounding Courtney off the last bend, before racing across the line in close proximity to his team-mate.
Danny Boy, the team man supreme, sped to another good win in heat five, but with Mills and Scarboro repelling the battling Frampton, the sides stayed locked-up at 15-points apiece. Heats six and seven were also shared, with Schramm and Walker taking the respective victories, although Irwin was decidedly unlucky in the latter, when clearly baulked as he exited the car park corner on the opening lap. The deadlock was broken in heat eight, when Scarboro initially held off Irwin and, with the popular home reserve understandably tiring in the latter stages, Courtney was able to join his partner for a 5-1.
Warwick got himself embroiled in a shoulder-to-shoulder scrap with Schramm in heat nine, but having previously taken seven rides on the night, he simply didn’t have the strength to keep up the tempo and had to settle for second place. Meanwhile, with Frampton remounting after an early fall, Jason Newitt’s point extended Oxford’s lead to 30-24. A re-run heat ten provided the hard-working Carter with his only win of the night, although Swindon failed to make in-roads into their deficit, since Norton and Barker comfortably split the points. The eleventh heat also ended as a 3-3, with Walker netting his second win of the match in rip-roaring ‘round-the-boards’ fashion.
Following a tapes infringement by Irwin, the Silver Machine Academy extended their advantage in heat twelve, but not before Swindon’s mega-popular number seven had supplied more thrills for the Blunsdon faithful to drool over. Coming from a 15-metre handicap, he quickly overhauled colleague Andrews, before surging after Courtney. After winding it up on lap two, the Sussex boy made a long home straight run, prior to zipping outside the ex-Sprocket exiting the second bend. There was no catching Norton, however, as the visitors moved eight-points in front.
That gave Carter the opportunity of double points in heat thirteen, but it was Walker who blasted from the traps to lead from Schramm. The Oxford captain was having none of it though, and found the drive to sweep outside as they came off the fourth bend of lap two. With Mills holding third place from Carter for the duration, Swindon slipped further adrift at 44-34 in arrears. One last tactical move saw stand-in skipper Warwick nominated for a tactical ride and he responded brilliantly to triumph ahead of Courtney. The nominated heat gave Schramm the opportunity to complete a fine five-ride maximum, while Norton turned it into a big 5-1 finish for the triumphant visitors.