Bojangles

I think it probably means the rising star scheme doesn't work like it says it does. No way King's Lynn are passing on Jenkins and Flint and picking Boughen based on his form towards the end of the season!

Thoughts on the Oxford Cheetahs team for 2025? They may have reached the Playoff and KO Cup finals, but feels like there could be a few changes for next season. Ashton Boughen has left the Spires, and lots of rumours of him going to Glasgow. Will Scott Nicholls carry on? Is Cameron Heeps past his best (he's had a great season, but little chance of him improving his average)? Luke Killeen has already signed, and Sam Masters and Jordan Jenkins are pretty much nailed on to stay I would have thought. Dan Gilkes seems like another potential candidate seeing as he seems to like it at Oxford.

True. That post didn't age well!

And that post is supposed to achieve what exactly? Anything other than rile Oxford fans and further incite the hatred towards him? Very clever! Perhaps you should get back to watching the meeting and enjoy your success.

Think Boughen might have ridden his last race for Oxford. It will sadly be Poole vs a team of guests in the second leg at this rate.

Despite the fact he thought he was Buke Lilleen and was looking in two different directions at the same time.

You're right, he shouldn't have been allowed. Killeen himself said he couldn't see properly and had a headache - serious questions should be asked about the medical staff.

Confirmed that Luke Killeen is out. Ben Trigger guesting at Poole, Connor Coles at Oxford.

Did you see Foord in the first leg at Oxford, or the U19 championship? He's definitely a bit reckless, but has speed. Just needs to learn to tone it down a bit - and more importantly listen to advice from some more senior riders.

Phew! I thought I'd been Trackratted!

Come again?

As I said in an earlier post, he's definitely shutting off at times, but I don't think it's related to being close to other riders. He does it at the first bend, or in the early stages of races. If he gets out in front, there's no stopping him. However, when he's behind you can often hear him shutting off coming into a bend (it's noticeable enough to have half the Oxford crowd groaning when he does it). Usually, as soon as that first lap is complete, he gets his head down and doesn't do it again - sometimes he goes to on pass people riding out wide, and other times he's simply far behind already to make any impact. It's all very strange. But yes, he's young, and still learning. The fact he's (and I emphasise this) not afraid to mix it with other riders makes him more of an enigma.

I don't meant to be harsh, but it feels like most of you commenting on Ashton Boughen have literally only seen him race at Poole. I've watched him for two seasons now, and shutting the throttle off when people are near him has never been an issue in the past. It's clearly because he has been riding while injured and doesn't want to aggravate said injury, surely? You've only got to look at his recent form to know something is amiss - you don't go from scoring a maximum at Redcar to riding like that at Poole in the space of a month for no reason. I will agree that Ashton is a bit of an enigma. When he's in front he looks like a million dollars, but when he's behind and doesn't fancy it, he cruises around at the back. On occasions he's come from last to first at Oxford, riding the high line and looking sensational - but there is the other side of him where you can clearly hear him shutting off the throttle coming into the bends when in last place. There is absolutely nobody around him when he does this, it's just something he does, and I don't know why. But at the end of the day, he's 17 years of age, this is only his second full season in the sport and he's still learning his way. Give him time, because he's certainly not afraid of other riders around him or mixing it up when needs be. He just needs to learn the best way to do it.

Had Starke already ridden for Workington in the playoffs? I didn't know. I wish somebody had mentioned it before you on this thread...

Surely you realise it's more than just a co-incidence that these crashes keep involving him, though. Do all these riders turn into Vinnie and nobody else? There's plenty of other situations where somebody has turned into them (slightly, that's all it was) and they have the ability to sense the danger and take the necessary precautions. Vinnie just goes at 100% and (to be honest) doesn't seem to care about the consequences. As the guy who started the thread said, he's had six crashes in his last three meetings. That's not just somebody being unlucky is it?

Jackanory, jackanory. Give it a rest.

You lie, Matt Ford lies. Same difference.

Jackanory, jackanory

I didn't mean Starke specifically, was just using him as an example. As I said, I like Jody and think he's got a good future, but there must have been a better option for a playoff final against a very strong team.

Firstly congratulations to Poole. They were the class act of the league throughout the season, and worthy winners. Another masterclass in team building. A lot has been made of Peter Schroeck's poor decision in the first leg, but an arguably even bigger blunder was not finding a suitable guest for Atkins/Roynon. Relying on Jody Scott was an awful decision, I don't think he beat an opposing rider over the two legs (bar Thomsen when he had bike issues). I like the lad and he's going to improve, but he's just not Championship level yet. Surely a decent guest wouldn't have been too hard to find for a final? Oxford had Paul Starke at Poole in the league and someone like him taking six rides instead of Scott could have been the difference. Poor effort from Schroeck in my opinion. He has had an absolute stinker in this final. Anyway, congratulations to Poole again. On to the KO Cup now.

If being hit in the head impacted his performance at Oxford, he shouldn't have been allowed to continue.... let alone be racing tonight.

I was there, crash was right in front of me. He was down a long time and was heavily limping once up.

Poole have to be favourites if Oxford use Gilkes and Scott. Cameron Heeps has only scored 3 in each of his visits to Poole this year Ashton Boughen is not fully fit Dan Gilkes doesn't like Wimborne Road Luke Killeen is unlikely to be fully fit after his crash yesterday Jody Scott struggles to score points at home, let alone away Masters and Nicholls can't do it all.

True. But that one was just too ridiculous to ignore!

I'm all for a bit of propaganda, but it has to be believable! Masters is far from virtually unbeatable at Poole. He's done two meetings there this season and scored a whopping 16 (paid 19) from 11 rides. That's a rather underwhelming match average of 5.82 (6.91 inc. bonus).