POOLE boss Neil Middleditch expects an Oxford backlash when the sides meet for the second time in five days this Wednesday.
He believes the Cheetahs will be smarting from their 61-29 Good Friday BSN Series mauling at Wimborne Road and has warned his Pirates charges to be ready to slug it out at Cowley.
In an amazing statistic Friday’s win was the 47th time that Middleditch has managed Poole to 60 points or more but he is not getting carried away.
“Nobody could have seen Friday's result coming and whilst one meeting doesn't make a season the signs are really good for the Pirates,” he said. “My old mate (Oxford manager) Peter Schroeck wasn’t too happy with the size of the result but he did say our lads deserved it.
“Oxford will be out to return the favour and I am sure we will see a very different performance from them on Wednesday.
“But we will be going there full of confidence and already have a good team spirit with the experienced boys such as Richard (Lawson) Ben and Zach (the Cook brothers) passing on their knowledge to the youngsters.
“There is no I in team and we showed on Friday it is all about an all-round performance.”
Shroeck swaps his reserve pairing around with Luke Killeen, whose eight-point haul was one of the few positives for the Cheetahs in Dorset, taking the number seven berth.
On the other side of the Cowley pits Sam Hagon returns to the track where he scored freely for the Oxford Chargers in 2022 while Max Perry returns to the venue where he recorded a sensational heat win for Plymouth in the Championship Pairs.
Scott Nicholls, who dropped just 23 points to opposition riders at Cowley last year, leads Oxford, 25 years since he scored a maximum for the Pirates in a 51-39 victory at Cowley weeks after they beat Oxford 61-29 in an Elite League fixture.
Cheetahs: Sam Masters, Henry Atkins, Cameron Heeps, Jordan Jenkins, Scott Nicholls, Ashton Boughen, Luke Killeen.
Pirates: Richard Lawson, Tobias Thomsen, Tom Brennan, Zach Cook, Ben Cook, Sam Hagon, Max Perry.
Words by George Dodds.
Images by Taylor Lanning.