Basement boys Oxford Cheetahs ended a miserable run of two successive 30-point defeats in style with a shock 47-43 victory against Skybet Elite League champions Coventry Bees on Wednesday night at Sandy Lane.

Just as they had toppled leaders Reading on Good Friday in their only previous win of the season, Cheetahs swept aside their Midlands rivals and had the points in the bag with a heat left.

Todd Wiltshire, back in the fold at Cowley, gave the fans a great boost with some cracking speedway.

And with skipper David Howe finally finding his touch, the pair were the inspiration behind a great team effort.

Oxford had to do without Lubos Tomicek, but his stand-in, Workington's Tomasz Piszcz proved a more than adequate replacement as he racked up a superb paid seven points.

Last Friday, Eastbourne inflicted a 60-32 hammering on the visiting Cheetahs, who also lost at Peterborough on Tuesday night.

The Panthers won 63-31 in East Anglia where Wiltshire and Freddie Eriksson topped the Oxford scorers with seven points each.

Wiltshire at least made the Panthers' top men work for their points, and Tomicek battled hard at reserve.

But that aside, there was little to raise Cheetahs' sprits.

Skipper Howe endured a nightmare return to his first club as he appeared beset by mechanical trouble. He failed to score a point, and was even pulled out of his last race.