Eastbourne Eagles 52, Oxford Silver Machine 38: The Oxford Silver Machine spluttered to a 14-point Elite League reverse at the hands of Eastbourne at Arlington on Saturday night.

The writing was on the wall from the very first heat when Travis McGowan moved at the start and nudged the tapes. He was duly penalised and had to start off a 15-metre handicap.

With David Norris getting the better of Todd Wiltshire, the Eagles were two points up and they were never to surrender that lead.

A succession of 4-2 heat advantages followed and by heat four, the Silver Machine were six points adrift.

Two shared heats followed, but the Eagles pulled further ahead in heat six as Norris inflicted Nicki Pedersen's only defeat of the night, increasing the deficit to eight points.

After a shared seventh race, Pedersen was bought in as a tactical substitute in heat eight, which he duly won. McGowan got his only point of the night after Norris fell at the back, reducing the deficit to six points.

Hopes were high that Oxford could reduce it further in the next heat when Wiltshire was brought in to partner Pedersen.

They made the perfect start and were well placed going into the first bend, only for Pedersen to push Wiltshire too wide and allow the home pair to sneak underneath. Pedersen just held on to first place but Wiltshire trailed in last.

Heat ten proved a disaster as Craig Boyce blew his motor after Iversen had fallen and handed the Eagles a maximum heat win and a ten-point lead.

The referee then made two decisions that even the partisan Eastbourne supporters could hardly believe.

In heat ten, Joe Screen had made the gate but had engine problems on the exit to the turn. The other three riders locked up and ended up in a heap on the floor trying to avoid him. Amazingly, Barrie Richardson decided to exclude Wiltshire from the re-run.

Then in the following heat, Boyce was excluded under the two minutes time allowance.

Henning Bager was drafted in to partner Niels-Kristian Iversen, but he fell on the first turn and Bager had to lay his bike down to avoid him. This time the referee ordered a re-run with all four back!

However, by this time the damage was done and the Eagles were guaranteed the victory.

Eastbourne: Barker 13+1, Ermolenko 10+2, Screen 10, Norris 9, Shields 7+2, Manchester 3, Loram RR. 52pts.

Oxford: Pedersen 17, Iversen 10, Wiltshire 7+1, Boyce 3+1, McGowan 1, Ulamek RR, Bager 0. 38pts.