IT was a case of close, but not close enough for the Belle Vue ‘Cool Running’ Colts at Oxford on Wednesday night, as they went down 49-40 to the Chargers at Sandy Lane.
But despite losing out on two NDL league points, thanks to their performance in Manchester against the south-eastern side, they managed to snatch the aggregate bonus point with an overall 82-96 win.
Proceedings got off to something of a slow start because of several incidents, which included a fall for Matt Marson in Heat 3 and the double exclusion of both Oxford riders in Heat 2 after they also fell.
For a brief time, the Cool Running Colts were leading the meeting but another fall, this time for captain Jack Smith, put the home team back in front, where they remained for the rest of the night.
But the tenaciousness of the visitors was evident in their refusal to back down and, on several occasions, they pulled the scores back to within a mere handful of points.
And it wasn’t until the final couple of races that the WSRA Chargers could really relax safe in the knowledge that the win on the night belonged to them.
Sam Hagon top scored for the Cool Running Colts with an impressive 8+1 tally, with James Pearson close behind with 8 and Freddy Hodder a respectable 7.
Belle Vue co-boss Steve Williams said: “We can’t fault the lads’ efforts tonight. The track was quite sketchy to begin with and it caught a few of them out early doors.
“There were a few crashes along the way, unfortunately, for Matt Marson and Jack Smith which left them battered and bruised but thankfully nothing is broken.
“Had our luck been better in places, the result on the night might’ve been different but the lads got stuck in as they always do and by the end of the night they’d really got to grips with conditions.
“Luke Muff and Paul Bowen really started to come on strong, and they all put everything they had out there and, overall, it got us the bonus league point which we can be very happy with.”
The next action in Manchester sees the Cool Running Colts take on the Mildenhall Fen Tigers on Friday, May 26 at 7:30pm in National Development League action.
The ATPI Aces again find themselves up against the Wolverhampton Wolves, this time in Premiership competition on bank holiday Monday, March 29 at 12:00pm.
Meeting tickets, race day programmes, south stand parking and hospitality are now available to pre-book online at bellevue-speedway.com.
RESULT – OXFORD V BELLE VUE – WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 @ 7:30PM [NDL]
Oxford ‘WSRA’ Chargers 49: Jordan Jenkins 15, Henry Atkins 13+2, Ryan Kinsley 9+1, Jody Scott 6, Jacob Clouting 4+2, Sam Woods 2, Jacob Fellows 0
Belle Vue ‘Cool Running’ Colts 40: Sam Hagon 8+1, James Pearson 8, Freddy Hodder 7, Luke Muff 5+1, Matt Marson 5+1, Jack Smith 4, Paul Bowen 3+2
Belle Vue win the aggregate bonus point 82-96
Image: Ian Charles