Jody Scott burst ahead in the final heat to ensure a one-point victory for the visiting Oxford Chargers who edged out Stellar Monarchs Academy 45-44 at Armadale.
Dayle Wood accumulated 13 points to top score for the home side and said: “A few silly points thrown away by the team but that’s all part of racing.”
And he added: “We’ll do our best at Oxford on Sunday. Hopefully, all the boys are on their game.”
Oxford held an eight-point lead after seven heats before the Monarchs Academy settled and were level at Heat 10.
Oxford regained the advantage in the next race as Luke Killeen won his third heat, and they added another point to their lead in a Heat 12 tussle between Sam McGurk and Jason Garrad.
Chargers had their top two in Heat 13 but Killeen off Gate One lifted and came off, earning an exclusion, and, in the restart, Max Perry came good with some excellent outside line riding to pass Scott.
Wood impressively won the second last race but Kyran Lyden could not add the important point, meaning that Oxford led by a point going in to the last race.
Killeen fell again, caught on the outside of a tight first corner, and it looked briefly as if Wood was going ahead, only for Scott to burst past into the third corner and lead the way home for victory for his team. A tremendous effort by the 17-year-old prospect.
Edinburgh Monarchs Academy (44): Connor Coles 8+0, Mason Watson 4+2, Sam McGurk 4+1, Dayle Wood 13+0, Max Perry 9+1, Kyran Lyden 6+0, Mark Parker 0+0
Oxford Chargers (45): Luke Killeen 9+0, Lee Harrison 1+0, Jason Garrad 6+2, Jacob Clouting 8+0, Jody Scott 13+0, Senna Summers 1+1, Ashton Vale 7+1
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