Chargers Come To Town

PREVIEW Friday 6th May 2022, 11:26am

by Graham Muncie

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.