Sussex speedway squad, the
Eastbourne Eagles have the ideal opportunity to seize back the local bragging
rights at Arlington stadium this Saturday evening (7.30 p.m. start time) as
near neighbours and bitter rivals, the Lakeside Hammers make their second visit
to the venue in the space of a=2 0fortnight, this time on Knockout Cup
semi-final duty.
A Cup Final date against either
the Poole Pirates or the Coventry Bees await the team who can successfully outgun
the other over the space of 30 heats, the second and decisive leg being
scheduled to take place in Purfleet next Wednesday evening (13th
August).
Past performance will count for nothing
however, so far this season the Eagles had seemed to enjoy the better fortunes
in clashes between the sides, Arlington victories by respective 53-39 (16th
June) and 49-44 (26th July) being preceded by an almost too close to
call 48-45 reverse at the home of the Hammers on May 16th, a night
when the Sussex outfit could have and probably should have put a large dent in
Lakeside’s 2008 unbeaten home Elite League record.
Such a performance, one that had
seen them the dominant force in the early races, amassing a 26-16 lead after 7
heats, though the Hammers were set to reel them in, a telling 8-1 in the eighth
and then two further big 5-1’s in the closing stages being sufficient to snatch
victory from the jaws of defeat, might have bolstered the Eagles resolve and
spurred them to go one better as they made the return journey to the Essex
arena last Monday evening, however it wasn’t to be.
Eastbourne made a confident start
trailing by only two-points on conclusion of heat three, but a maximum to the
home in the fourth seemed to set the pattern for the evening and then a triple
blast of 5-1’s in the mid part of the meeting stamped Lakeside’s authority all
over the fixture, one that as the dust settled saw them take the points
courtesy of a commanding 56-37 scoreline and one that also propelled them to
the top of the Elite League table.
BELLE VUE manager Chris Morton has highlighted the impact made by youngsters
Billy Forsberg and Patrick Hougaard, who were both to the fore as the Aces
notched a home win over Ipswich.
Morton said: "I am very pleased with the way both of them are progressing.
Ipswich were very determined on Monday and took the lead twice but Patrick and
Billy played their parts in making sure we won.
"We had some bad luck but the boys stayed calm and never panicked. I
always felt we had enough in hand to win the match and we did so."
COVENTRY are hoping to have Hans Andersen in their team for Thursday's trip to
his former club Peterborough, having awaited clearance to declare him after
being released by the Panthers.
Andersen said: "I'm really looking forward to my first meeting after
having such a time out of British racing. It will be good to get back on a bike
and race for Coventry.
"It's not the way I wanted things to end with Peterborough, as I've had a
couple of really good years there. We became champions in 2006 but
unfortunately everything has gone pear-shaped there and I want to get back on
track."
Eastbourne
Eagles Elite League Play Off hopes remained firmly in the melting pot following
a disappointing 56-37 defeat at the Purfleet home of strong title
contenders, the Lakeside Hammers in front of the SKY Sports cameras on Monday
evening.
The
Sussex side certainly need to pick up points on the road if they are yet to
finish in the section’s top four and qualify for the end of season showdown.
Despite the two sides differing fortunes thus far and the fact that the Hammers
had yet to drop points around their home circuit in 2008, the Eagles would have
approached the fixture with a degree of confidence following an authoritative
display that all but saw them take the points in the ‘A’ fixture at the venue
back in May.
That occasion had seen the Eagles amass a
10-point advantage after seven races and had looked set to triumph before a
late collapse saw them go down to a mere 3-point (48-45) defeat in the closing
stages. However, hopes they might have harboured of building on the plus points
of that clash failed to materialise and although they trailed the home side by
just two points (10-8) at the end of three heats, Simon Gustafsson and Lee
Richardson enjoying encouraging early wins, a fourth race maximum for the
Hammers was destined to set the course of the meeting.
