The fans are warming to the new-look Oxford Cheetahs and those who say the racing is not up to scratch should come and have a look for themselves.

There's no substitute to the blood and thunder these youngsters provide.

They may not have the class of the so-called superstars, but what you do get is value for money, and some thrilling racing to boot.

Supporters were bowled over by the double passing move of Andrew Bargh and Lee Smethills to overtake Luke Bowen in heat 13 on Friday and set Cheetahs up for a hard-earned victory.

But with so many injuries in speedway today, it was inevitable that the good run came to as halt at Sittingbourne on Sunday.

They surely would have won had it not been for the nasty injury to leading light Bargh, plus lesser blows to George Piper and Matt Bates, which effectively left them with a four-man team.

But boss Allen Trump has moved quickly, signing Conference League champion Adam Roynon - although he will not be seen in Cheetahs colours until next month.

Bates suffered from dizziness after a heat-three fall, George Piper sustained an ankle injury in heat six (later diagnosed as soft tissue damage), and then came Bargh's accident in heat 15 after a clash with Danny Warwick, which resulted in a suspected fractured ankle.

Brendan Johnson also hurt his wrist in heat four and was not able to take his place in the re-run.

During a long gap between heats six and seven while Piper & Bates received treatment, Johnson declared himself fit to continue in the meeting, and indeed took his full allocation of seven rides.

Bargh was discharged from the Medway Hospital in Kent on Sunday evening, having undergone initial treatment.

He visited the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on Monday, but the ankle is too swollen for them to do anything further at the moment.

The 20-year old from New Zealand said: "I've got to go back to hospital next Thursday. By then, the swelling should have gone down enough.

"They had to fix my ankle on the day, because it was at a right angle to where it should be, and that's what has caused the swelling.

"The doctor reckons it's gone back into place pretty good, so I'm hoping to be back in action in about a month.

"Thanks to the guys from Oxford who stuck around the hospital in Kent while I was in there - it was appreciated."

Bargh would not have been fit to take his place in the re-run of heat 15, but was still annoyed to find out he had been excluded from the race.

"I found out in the ambulance - and I wasn't too pleased," he said.

"Danny Warwick nudged me around the first bend, and it caused me to pick up coming out of the bend and hit the fence. I shouldn't have been excluded for that.

"But it was a day everything went wrong for us. We had so many things happen, and then when we only needed a 3-3 from the final race, my accident happened. It was one of those days."

Club chairman Bryn Williams was team manager on Sunday and reflected on a match that slipped away from his side.

Williams said: "Undoubtedly, it was a match we should have won, but we didn't, so we'll have to make up for it elsewhere.

"Our riders were certainly giving it their all - but it just didn't work out for us.

"Young Brendan Johnson took four successive rides, despite having had a nasty crash earlier in the afternoon.

"In different circumstances, his second place in heat 12 would have been the match-winner."