Bulldogs' Good Friday.

What a Good Friday it's been for the Meridian Lifts Reading Bulldogs as they followed up this afternoon's win at Oxford with a 54-36 win over the Cheetahs this evening at Smallmead.

And to make their day even better, with the five Elite League points they've picked up from the two meetings, it takes them back to the top of the Sky Sports Elite League.

Travis McGowan completed a profitable day with 16 (paid 17) from his six rides for Reading and once again Greg Hancock played a captain's role with 15 (paid 16).

For the Cheetahs, Piotr Protasiewicz topped the visitors scorechart with 12.

After a shared opening race in which Hancock took the chequered flag, the Bulldogs took the lead with Danny Bird and Phil Morris storming to a 5-1 in heat 2.

There was passing galore in heat 3. The Reading pair of Travis McGowan and Danny Bird hit the front, but Oxford's Steve Johnston went past the pair of them on the opening lap, only for McGowan to finally pass the Cheetah on the third lap to take the win. That would have given the Bulldogs a 4-2, but Bird ground to a halt on the run into the finishing line, so Ales Dryml nipped past him for the third place and the race was shared.

Protasiewicz made a good start ahead of Janusz Kolodziej to win heat 4, but Morris came to grief on the final lap whilst in third place, which gifted Eric Andersson third place and Oxford a 4-2.

Andy Smith and Kolodziej had a coming together on the first lap of heat 5 which resulted in the Oxford rider being excluded from the re-run. In the re-start McGowan and Kolodziej shot from the tapes for a comfortable 5-1 over lone Oxford rider Jesper Jensen.

Hancock was first away in heat 6 and when Simota blasted around the boards ahead of Protasiewicz and Eriksson Reading looked set for a 5-1. Unfortunately Simota fell on the last bend so the Bulldogs had to settle for a 3-3.

Johnston then just got the nod on the line in a tight finish to heat 7 ahead of Kolodziej and Bird which resulted in a 3-3.

Bird made a super start to win heat 8 and with Simota just taking Andersson on the line, the ensuing Bulldogs 5-1 put them ten points in front at 29-19.

Hancock and McGowan made it five more in heat 9 and, then a 5-1 from Hancock and Simota over Johnston (tactical ride) in heat 10 made it 39-21.

Oxford hit back with a 4-2 in heat 11, but McGowan continued his good form when winning a shared heat 12. A further 4-2 from the Cheetahs pair of Protasiewicz and Jensen in heat 13 pulled the progressive score back to 46-32 with two races remaining.

McGowan and Bird then raced to a 5-1 in heat 14 over Johnston and Andersson and, day was finished off with Protasiewicz inflicting the first defeat of McGowan when winning heat 15. With Hancock in the third place ahead of Johnston the resultant 3-3 made the final score 54-36.

So that's the first part of the Easter local derby action over and done with, but the Bulldogs are back in Elite League action on Easter Sunday lunchtime when they host the Swindon Robins at Smallmead Stadium (12.30pm). The two M4 rivals then make a quick exit after the Smallmead match as they face each other in the return match in the Abbey Stadium, Blunsdon, just a few hours later (6.00pm).

COMING straight after Good Friday's two meetings against Oxford, the Meridian Lifts Reading Bulldogs are quickly back in action when they race against Elite League title favourites Swindon Robins TWICE on Easter Sunday.

The Bulldogs host the Robins at Smallmead (12.30pm) and then as soon as they've packed their gear away the two teams make a speedy retreat down the M4 for the return fixture at the Abbey Stadium (6.30pm).

Reading had the upper-hand over Swindon in the corresponding fixtures last season, beating them twice at Smallmead and also clocking up a victory at the Abbey. The Bulldogs also won both legs of their KO Cup tie thus knocking out the Robins at the first hurdle.

Swindon, however, are a different proposition in 2007 and have already beaten Reading twice in the season-opening Challenge match double-header. That was a Challenge fixture though and the serious stuff is the Elite League, so the Bulldogs will be fired up to put those two results firmly behind them, get the results when it matters and continue their bright start to the new season.

The two clubs had mixed results in their matches on Good Friday. Swindon went down to a crushing 58-35 defeat at Peterborough, but Reading picked up two victories over Oxford which puts them back on top of the Sky Sports Elite League.

Reading look to track a full-strength team as they welcome Matej Zagar back to the team after the Slovenian missed both Good Friday fixtures as he was away competing in his national championship. Mark Lemon missed the Good Friday evening match at Smallmead against Oxford after damaging knee ligaments in the morning clash against the Cheetahs, but is hopeful in being back to face the Robins on Sunday.

Supporters attending the midday match at Smallmead are asked to note that kids (under 15s) admission prices revert back to ?5 for the visit of the Robins, but the '?2 promotion' will be in operation for the second and final time for the visit of Wolverhampton for the KO Cup match on Friday 13th April.