Battling Cheetahs took the Bulldogs to a last-heat decider before losing a thrilling derby 48-42 at a rain-sodden Oxford Stadium last night.

They were undone by former skipper Greg Hancock who raced to a faultless paid 15 maximum and produced team riding of the highest order.

Oxford took the lead in heat 9, but their joy did not last long.

Both teams were weakened, but in Aussie veteran Shane Parker the Bulldogs had the best of the exchanges and just about deserved their victory on the night.

Early on, the visitors rammed in two 5-1's to put Cheetahs on the back foot, but to their credit they dug in and took their rivals all the way.

Ricky Kling, so impressive in his few meetings so far, had a night to forget starting with putting Eric Andersson in the air fence in heat 2 and being excluded, and ended up with no points.

Lubos Tomicek did well being elevated to the No 5 spot with a hard earned six points, while Pepe Protasiewicz and Steve Johnston scored a paid 12 and 11 respectively.

Despite heavy overnight rain, the surface was in remarkably good condition.

With meetings falling by the wayside throughout the day, praise must go to the Oxford track staff led by Nobby Hall and Aaron Lanney plus a few riders, who worked their socks off to get this meeting on. Referee Dan Holt described the surface as in remarkably good condition considering the unrelenting rain to hit the county over the last two days.

Two maximum heats wins led by Protasiewicz and Freddie Eriksson got Cheetahs back in the hunt and by heat 8 a great start from Andersson and Eriksson levelled matters at 24-24.

Things were looking up as Protasiewicz and Johnston slammed in another maximum soon after saw Cheetahs in front for the first time.

By heat 10 they were six points to the good, but Bulldogs reduced the gap to 34-32 and another 5-1 saw them pull two points clear.

However, a superb start by Johnston and Andersson in heat 14 looked to be heading for a two-point advantage going into heat 15, but with Johnston well clear, Jonas Davidsson and Sam Simota passed Andersson.

Hancock and Parker wrapped it up in style in the final heat, with a 5-1.

f=Helvetica s=5.6Oxford: Protasiewicz 11+1, Johnston 9+2, Holder 6+1, Eriksson 6+1, Tomicek 6, Andersson 4, Kling 0. 42 pts.

Reading: Hancock 14+1, Parker 10+3, Simota 11+1, Davidsson 7, Smith 3 +1, Lemon 3 48 pts HEAT DETAILS f=Helvetica s=6.2Heat 1: Hancock, Parker, Holder, Eriksson 61.2 secs.

Heat 2: (re-run) Simota, Smith, Andersson, Kling (exc) 60.9 Heat 3: Protasiewicz, Johnston, Lemon, Davidsson 61.5.

Heat 4: Parker, Tomicek, Simota, Andersson (f/rmtd) 61.8.

Heat 5: Hancock, Johnston, Protasiewicz, Davidsson 60.7.

Heat 6: Erikson, Holder, Parker, Smith 61.0.

Heat 7: Davidsson, Tomicek, Lemon, Kling 60.5.

Heat 8: Andersson, Eriksson, Simota, Lemon (ret) 60.8.

Heat 9: Protasiewicz, Johnston, Smith, Parker 61.7.

Heat 10: Holder, Davidsson, Eriksson, Lemon (ret) 60.9.

Heat 11: Simota, Hancock, Tomicek, Kling 60.8.

Heat 12: (re-run) Protasiewicz, Simota, Lemon, Andersson (f/exc) 61.5 Heat 13: Parker, Hancock, Tomicek, Holder 60.9 Heat 14: Johnston, Davidsson, Simota, Andersson 62.2.

Heat 15: Hancock, Parker, Johnston, Protasiewicz 60.8