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EASTBOURNE EAGLES - 44 VS PETERBOROUGH -46 |
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Sat 4 Jul 2009
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| Posted by
Jenni |
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A great night for Cam 15points.
Eastbourne suffered their third consecutive home defeat on Saturday against play-off chasing Peterborough .
The advantage ebbed and flowed between the teams until the half-way point. Then the visitors fired in two 5-1 heat wins to take a four-point lead into the interval.
Eastbourne immediately got back on terms but had lost the match by the end of heat 14.
Both teams were missing riders. Davey Watt and Lukas Dryml were riding in a world championship qualifier in Sweden and their places were taken by Adam Skornicki and Nicolai Klindt from Wolverhampton . They did not score the points that you would have expected from the men they replaced.
Team manager Trevor Geer said: “It has been an absolute nightmare trying to replace Davey and Lukas with riders having so many commitments at this time of the year. I spent almost all of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on the phone, to be met constantly by comments like ‘I would love to take the booking but . . .’”
On the visitors’ side of the pits, former Eagle Ulrich Ostergaard stepped in for Ales Dryml and they used rider replacement for Kenneth Bjerre.
Ostergaard again proved a handful for the home riders – just as he did when his own team Belle Vue won at Arlington .
Lewis Bridger, riding at number one at Arlington for the first time, had a tough night – three times being defeated by the visiting number one Niels Kristian Iversen.
Bridger was last away in heat one. He quickly carved his way past Ulrich Ostergaard and Nicolai Klindt. Within three laps he was in touching distance of Iversen but couldn’t find a way past on the last lap.
Simon Gustafsson and Ricky Kling gave the Eagles an early lead when they took a 4-2 over the visitors’ reserves in heat two. Henning Bager pushed hard but could not get on terms with Gustafsson while Kling benefited from Claus Vissing’s fall.
Peterborough levelled the scores immediately when a battling Cameron Woodward could only get up to second place in heat three after a sluggish start.
Heat four was another drawn heat. Kling’s last corner lunge up the inside failed to budge Vissing from his line and the young Dane took the chequered flag.
Eastbourne took a surprise 5-1 in heat five when Woodward and Skornicki gated and Iversen could not get on terms.
Iversen immediately put right his slip in heat five by taking a comfortable win in heat six and with Bager third the lead had been cut to two points.
The teams continued to trade blows with the Eagles taking a 4-2 in heat seven, thanks to a good heat win from Klindt and a battling third place from Kling.
Ostergaard went from zero to hero by winning heat eight after recording two last places in his previous races. And with Vissing in tow, the Panthers were back on terms at 24-24.
In heat nine Skornicki was excluded after falling on the third bend while trying to play catch-up.
Peterborough capitalised in the re-run by taking a second successive 5-1 after Woodward, who was leading the original race before it was stopped, suffered machine problems and eventually toured in a distant third.
Hansen took a “high-side” crash in heat ten when he tried to force his way through the inside on turns one and two. He was excluded from the re-run.
Bridger and Woodward cashed in against the lone visitor, Korneliussen by taking a 5-1 from the gate to level the scores at 30 all.
Iversen and Ostergaard gave Peterborough a 4-2 in heat 11 as the Eagles failed to maintain the momentum of the previous race.
There was a moment of controversy in heat 12 when Gustafsson and Vissing exchanged words in front of the grandstand as they rode back to the pits.
Gustafsson was clearly unhappy with the line Vissing had taken during one part of the race. Kling was a fine winner for the Eagles but Vissing kept Gustafsson at the back.
Peterborough pushed their advantage to six points when Iversen and Korneliussen sped away to take a relatively easy 5-1 in heat 13.
Peterborough wrapped up the points by sharing heat 14 after Kling fell at the start of the third lap.
However, Peterborough could not take a maxim four league points. In heat 15 Iversen fell and was excluded when taken wide on bend four of the first lap by Bridger. It meant they could not get the 4-2 they needed to win the match by more than seven points.
In the re-run, Bridger and Woodward romped to a 5-1 but by then it was too late.
Scorers:
Eastbourne: Cameron Woodward 13+2 ( 6), Lewis Bridger 11 (5), Ricky Kling 7 (5) Simon Gustafsson 6 (5), Nicolai Klindt 5+2 (5), Adam Skornicki 2+1 (4) - 44
Peterborough: Niels Kristian Iversen 12 +1 (6), Claus Vissing 10+3 (6), Mads Korneliussen 10 (6), Ulrich Ostergaard 6 (5), Kenneth Hansen 5 (4), Henning Bager 3 (3) - 46
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