Reserve pairing Adam Pietraszko and Lubos Tomicek appear to be on borrowed time after another disastrous night saw Oxford Cheetahs crash out of the Knockout Cup at the first hurdle last night after a 54-40 defeat at Wolverhampton.

Once again Cheetahs, who lost 101-83 on aggregate, failed purely on strength in depth as Wolves raced to victory in the second leg.

The home side's three heat leaders Peter Karlsson, Billy Hamill and Freddie Lindgren ruled the roost as Wolves had the first rider home in 11 of the 15 heats.

Skipper David Howe showed his intent on his former track by giving Peter Karlsson plenty to think about on the first two laps in the opener.

But the Swede knew just too much as the home side increased their overall lead from the off.

Then Pietraszko and Tomicek had no answer to the home side, surrendering an easy 5-1.

Adam Skornicki and Davey Watt stemmed the flow a bit before Tony Rickardsson, back from a migraine which ruled him out off the first leg last Wednesday, proved too sharp for Hamill.

Magnus Karlsson set the pace in heat five, leading Eric Andersson, before Lindgren and Howe zipped past the pair.

Nearing the halfway stage, Wolves maintained their ten-point advantage, despite another victory for Rickardsson.

Watt and Scornicki then took the minor places behind Hamill.

A 4-2 for the home side increased their advantage to 12 points, before Lindgren had the upper hand over Rickardsson.

Oxford felt hard done by in heat ten after Peter Karlsson fell on the first bend with nobody near him and Watt laid his bike down to avoid him, yet the referee ordered all the riders back for a re-run.

In the re-run, Karlsson swooped to set up a 5-1.

Howe came in as a tactical ride in heat 11, finishing behind Hamill with Andersson in third, leaving the home side a whopping 19 points ahead with four heats left.

Team manager Graeme Gordon tried Watt as another tactical ride and brought Tomicek in as a reserve replacement in heat 12.

This time Watt was beaten by Magnus Karlsson with Tomicek nowhere.

Hamill and Rickardsson enjoyed a rare tussle in heat 13 behind Peter Karlsson, and Skornicki became only the second visiting rider to win a heat in the penultimate race.

Richardsson then said his farewells to the Monmore faithful by throwing his goggles into the crowd after winning the last race.

Wolverhampton: Lindgren 13, P Karlsson 11, Hamill 10, Heffenbrock 8, Correy 5, M Karlsson 4, Wilson 3. 54pts.

Oxford: Rickardsson 13, Howe 8, Watt 7+1, Skornicki 7+1, Andersson 4+2, Tomicek 1, Piertraszko 0. 40pts.