OXFORD boosted their play-off hopes with a win against Birmingham despite fighting the challenging weather conditions.
The 37-23 victory was rained off after 10 races due to the rain, but the result still stands.
With track conditions deteriorating, both teams felt it was time to curtain the meeting.
Oxford boss Peter Schroeck said: “I think it was the right call, as the track was starting to deteriorate.
“But we were happy to continue if necessary.
“We weren’t going to jump up and down, we left the ball entirely in Birmingham’s court as to whether they wanted to continue or not.
“The boys knew it was an important meeting for us and they all got stuck in.
“I was really pleased that Drew Kemp went out and won Heat 8, because he hasn’t had the easiest of times since he signed for us and that was important for his confidence.”
A tricky night with a slippery track didn’t faze Maciej Janowski and Chris Harris who were unbeaten from three rides with Janowski scoring 8+1 and Harris, 7+2 points.
The Brummies started out strong with a 5-1, but the race quickly turned in favour of the Spires.
Brummies suffered a further blow when Tom Brennan crashed in Heat 7.
Birmingham manager Sam Ermolenko said: “We were fighting the conditions last time we were here and today it was the elements.
“We just weren’t getting out of the starts and we didn’t really have the opportunity to race the track when the rain started coming and it kind of spoiled it for both sides.
“We still had a chance, but the rain took the best of it.”
Brummies will be hoping to get out of the rain for their next race against Sheffield Tigers on the 22nd July.
Spires will be hoping to continue their hopes of the play-offs in their next race against Belle Vue Aces on 18th July.
Words by Freya Taylor.
Images by Taylor Lanning.