Armadale Devils v Oxford Chargers - 6th May 2022 | Match Centre | Armadale Devils Speedway | Official Club Website
Armadale Devils
Tom Woolley 12 (6)
Oxford Chargers
Jordan Jenkins 15 (5)
National Development League
42
48
Friday 6th May 2022
Armadale Stadium
Armadale Devils
Team Manager: Alan Budzynski
42
1. Danny Phillips 2 0 3 1 0 6 0
2. Josh Embleton 1* 1* 2 2 F 6 2
3. Tom Woolley 2 1 2 3 3 1 12 0
4. George Rothery - Rider Replacement 0 0
5. William Lawson 2 3 1 0 6 0
6. Gregor Millar 3 0 2* R 2* 2* 9 3
7. Lewis Millar 2* F 1* 0 3 2
Oxford Chargers
Team Manager: Jason Crump
48
1. Jordan Jenkins 3 3 3 3 3 15 0
2. Ace Pijper F 2* 3 2* 7 2
3. Ben Hopwood FD R 1* F 1 1
4. Jacob Clouting 3 1 2 F 6 0
5. Nathan Stoneman 3 3 3 2* 2* 13 2
6. Arran Butcher FD 1 1 1 3 0
7. Sam Woods 1 1 0 1 3 0
Heat 1
Time: Awarded
1. Danny Phillips  
2
2. Josh Embleton  
1
1. Jordan Jenkins  
3
2. Ace Pijper  
F
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
3
Away
3
3
Heat 2
Time: 62.3
6. Gregor Millar  
3
7. Lewis Millar  
2
6. Arran Butcher  
FD
7. Sam Woods  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
8
Away
1
4
Heat 3
Time: 61.6
3. Tom Woolley  
2
4. George Rothery  
2. Josh Embleton
1
3. Ben Hopwood  
FD
4. Jacob Clouting  
3
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
11
Away
3
7
Heat 4
Time: 61.3
5. William Lawson  
2
7. Lewis Millar  
F
5. Nathan Stoneman  
3
7. Sam Woods  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
2
13
Away
4
11
Heat 5
Time: 57.7
3. Tom Woolley  
1
4. George Rothery  
6. Gregor Millar
0
1. Jordan Jenkins  
3
2. Ace Pijper  
2
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
1
14
Away
5
16
Heat 6
Time: 61.6
1. Danny Phillips  
0
2. Josh Embleton  
2
5. Nathan Stoneman  
3
6. Arran Butcher  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
2
16
Away
4
20
Heat 7
Time: 61.8
5. William Lawson  
3
6. Gregor Millar  
2
3. Ben Hopwood  
R
4. Jacob Clouting  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
21
Away
1
21
Heat 8
Time: 61.8
2. Josh Embleton  
2
7. Lewis Millar  
1
2. Ace Pijper  
3
7. Sam Woods  
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
24
Away
3
24
Heat 9
Time: 62.1
3. Tom Woolley  
2
4. George Rothery  
6. Gregor Millar
R
5. Nathan Stoneman  
3
6. Arran Butcher  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
2
26
Away
4
28
Heat 10
Time: 63.3
1. Danny Phillips  
3
2. Josh Embleton  
F
3. Ben Hopwood  
1
4. Jacob Clouting  
2
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
29
Away
3
31
Heat 11
Time: 59.1
5. William Lawson  
1
6. Gregor Millar  
7. Lewis Millar
0
1. Jordan Jenkins  
3
2. Ace Pijper  
2
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
1
30
Away
5
36
Heat 12
Time: 63.6
3. Tom Woolley  
3
7. Lewis Millar  
6. Gregor Millar
2
3. Ben Hopwood  
F
6. Arran Butcher  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
35
Away
1
37
Heat 13
Time: 60.1
1. Danny Phillips  
1
5. William Lawson  
0
1. Jordan Jenkins  
3
5. Nathan Stoneman  
2
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
1
36
Away
5
42
Heat 14
Time: 63.3
4. George Rothery  
3. Tom Woolley
3
6. Gregor Millar  
2
4. Jacob Clouting  
F
7. Sam Woods  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
41
Away
1
43
Heat 15
Time: 60.6
3. Tom Woolley  
1
1. Danny Phillips  
0
1. Jordan Jenkins  
3
5. Nathan Stoneman  
2
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
1
42
Away
5
48

The Stellar Devils battled hard but on a track made tricky by quite a bit of earlier rain, they were eventually outgunned by Oxford and went down 42-48.

For the Devils, there were improved performances from their backup riders Josh Embleton and the Millar brothers, especially Gregor Miller who bagged 9.

Gregor's elder brother Lewis said "At one point we were really close to winning it, then we lost another 5-1 and it was out of our grasp again. But some of us are starting to score points again, and getting our confidence back. There's definitely posiitives to take and this is what this whole thing is all about, bringing on the younger riders. We're definitely getting there, it just takes time."

There was so much going on it was hard to remember everything. There were a number of fallers (though no serious injuries), and at times both teams seemed to be trying to throw away points. There were also some exceptionally good heats.

None of the Armadale heat leaders were at their best, though in the end Tom Woolley scored well enough. In Gregor Millar's best display to date, he won heat 2, then passed both visitors in a heat 7 5-1 with William Lawson. Heat 9 might have been his most impressive ride as he passed Stoneman, but locked up and ran into mechanical gremlins.

Gregor was involved in another two 5-1s as the teams swapped maximum advantages over the closing stages.

In the end the deciding factor was the Oxford spearhead of Jordan Jenkins and Nathan Stoneman, both unbeaten on the night. Jenkins was head and shoulders above everyone else in the meeting, whereas Stoneman had to battle for his points and seemed on the verge of defeat more than once, but his steady riding always brought him out on top.

Several of the best heats involved Stoneman. He had an amazing four lap battle with William Lawson in heat 4, passing and repassing, but just edged it in the end. He seemed sure to drop a point when Danny Phillips led heat 6, but the Devils' no. 1 then fell, and he took a win against Gregor Millar when the home man pulled up.

Of course the contribution of Chargers' guest Ace Pijper was crucial, which even this early in Ace's career is not a great surprise. He fell when on a 5-1 with Jenkins in heat one but bounced back to be unbeaten in his next three races. Ace will qualify for a new average in five days time, well above the newcomer's 3.00 he is on at the moment, but too late to prevent him having a big influence on this match.

It was a deserved win for the new side, who had team managers Peter Schroek and Jason Crump both in attendance and very much enjoying themselves.

After a few weeks to lick their wounds from home and away defeats to Berwick the Stellar Devils are back in action on Friday evening with the newest team in British speedway the Oxford Chargers the opponents in the National Development League.

The return of racing to Oxford this year has undoubtedly been the feel-good story so far with the Championship outfit reporting sell out crowds and the Chargers National League team in tow to help develop the next lot of stars ready to step up.

Like the Devils Friday's visitors have raced a pair of meetings home and away to Berwick but have fared slightly better with an away defeat being followed up by a home win during the week.

That match a bruising encounter for the Chargers but as at time of writing only 1 change is expected to the line-up with Sam Hagon on SGP2 qualifying duty Ace Pijper steps in and the Devils already know how dangerous he can be following his paid double figure score earlier in the season.

Leading the way for the visitors is Jordan Jenkins, Jenkins undoubtedly one of the top men in the league this year and with his experience with Redcar he knows the Armadale track well and has impressed before.

Main backup comes from Nathan Stoneman who is performing well so far with double digit returns in both those matches against the Bullets.

Ben Hopwood is an experienced campaigner at this level and slots in at the number 3 position leaving the rest of the septet to be made up youngster Hagon (as previously mentioned replaced by Pijper this week) and slightly more experienced but still progressing Jacob Clouting, Arran Butcher and Sam Woods all of whom have had their moments so far.

So, a tough test lies in store for the Devils as they look to break their duck for the year, making the job all the harder will be the absence of George Rothery due to family reasons with rider replacement in operation meaning extra rides for Tom Woolley, Josh Embleton and the Millar brothers all eligible for extra outings.

The latter pair in particular will be looking to kickstart their season after a challenging start while Embleton will look to build on a solid start.

At the top end Danny Phillips, William Lawson and Woolley will look to lead the way and all can find positives so far this year, Phillips had a pair of wins down at Shielfield a couple of weeks ago, Lawson was close to going through the card in the home encounter against the Bullets while Woolley has recorded at least a pair of heat wins in both meetings so far.

It's all systems go for the Stellar Devils as they look to record that first win and build a bit of confidence before a quiet spell makes way for a busy couple of months ahead.

Tapes up at 7.30pm with pay at the gate available, for those that can't make it trackside the match will be love streamed also.