SHEFFIELD collected all three league points on offer as they beat Oxford 50-40 at Owlerton on Thursday.
It was a third win in the space of a week for the Tru7 Group Tigers who also sealed the aggregate victory over the Spires in Heat 15.
The two sides had already played out a hat-trick of tight tussles in this year’s ROWE Motor Oil Premiership, and this was no different with three mid-meeting 5-1s proving pivotal for the Steel City side.
Jack Holder and Kyle Howarth opened with a 4-2 before Jason Edwards led a shared Heat Two.
But the visitors took the lead when Maciej Janowski and Charles Wright outgated Josh Pickering and Howarth in Heat Three.
Heat Four served up plenty edge of your seat stuff with Chris Holder doing remarkably well to get his bike back under control before ruthlessly re-passing Oxford’s Rising Star Luke Killeen to reclaim third place. And whilst Sheffield’s own No.7 Dan Gilkes rode superbly throughout, it was Spires’ skipper Chris Harris who stole the race win on the run to the line by 0.02 seconds.
Pickering and Howarth combined for for a 4-2 in the fifth, but a stroke of luck for the visitors saw them move back ahead with a 4-2 of their own when Jack Holder’s machine packed up whilst in second.
After his brother Chris went out and won Heat Seven, Jack recovered in perfect fashion taking the chequered flag as rider replacement in Heat Eight whilst Gilkes fended off the charge of the Oxford pair for the Tigers’ first 5-1 of the night.
That was quickly followed by another when Pickering and Howarth blocked Harris’ run in the early stages of Heat Nine - and the Tigers found themselves ten up when they hit a third straight maximum with the Holder brothers denying Janowski.
Chris Holder made it three wins on the spin in Heat 11 before a fabulous Heat 12 put the Tigers on the verge of victory. Pickering went wide to send him from third to first down the back straight whilst Gilkes got the better of Ashton Boughen for third in a good battle between the two British youngsters.
A shared Heat 13 was enough to seal the match points for Sheffield - but when tactical substitute Janowski and Wright combined for their second 5-1 on the night, the aggregate point would be up for grabs in the very last race.
Sheffield knew a 3-3 would be enough to secure that, and whilst Chris Holder cleared off in front, Jack stormed under Harris mid-race to take third and claim another vital league point for the Tigers.
The champions are back in action on Monday (July 29, 7.30pm) when they make their first league trip of the year to King’s Lynn.
SHEFFIELD 50: Chris Holder 14+2, Josh Pickering 12, Jack Holder 11+1, Kyle Howarth 5+1, Dan Gilkes 5+1, Jason Edwards 3, Tai Woffinden R/R OXFORD 40: Maciej Janowski 12+1, Chris Harris 10, Charles Wright 6+2, Erik Riss 6+1, Ashton Boughen 2+1, Rohan Tungate 2, Luke Killeen 2. Sheffield win the aggregate point 92-88.
