Eagles tame hungry Wolves

The Sussex side drew first blood in their personal duel with 2002 League champions, Wolverhampton but their eventual 47-42 margin of victory could well have been greater had it not been for a last ditch revival by the Wolves in the final two races.

The Eagles seized control of proceedings in the mid part of the match following a tentative opening that saw them four points in arrears (13-17) after just five races. A 5-1 from the purposeful Mark Loram/Dean Barker duo in heat six levelled proceedings and then another from the same pairing four races later served to propel them into a useful seven-point lead (33-26) with just five heats remaining.

Their grip on the match tightened as reserve Adam Shields inflicted a sensational defeat on visiting captain Peter Karlsson on the run in to the line in the 12th with David Norris following on for third place and the 4-2.

Victory was assured in the very next race, a fantastic four laps that saw Eagles skipper Joe Screen combine with Loram for a text book 5-1 over sibling duo, Mikael Max and Karlsson. This extended the Sussex lead to 13-points (45-32) and suddenly the heat was off.

Whether the home side took their foot off the accelerator at this point or indeed whether the Wolves stepped it up a gear is uncertain, but back to back 5-1's for the visitors in each of the final two races narrowed the difference to just five, a margin that enhances Wolves own hopes of claiming the aggregate bonus when the teams re-convene at Monmore Green in May.

Star of the show for the visitors as always was the effervescent Max. With the match slipping further from Wolves grasp, the super Swede claimed race wins in three of the last five races to spark his team's fight back.

As for the Eagles, skipper Screen and Loram showed dominant form throughout with Barker no less impressive. That might well have been scripted but the icing on the cake for Eagles fans was the performance of Australian hot shot Shields who demonstrated what an asset he is likely to prove with a paid nine-point return from his five outings.

qFor the first time in 2003, Eagles return to their more traditional Saturday race night (7.30pm) at Arlington stadium this weekend.

Next in line to test the resolve of the Sussex side is one of only two teams who travelled to the venue last term and subsequently made off with the two Elite League points in hand. Eagles' long time rivals, the Ipswich Witches, make the journey down the A12 to do battle with their Sussex hosts in the hopes of repeating the result that turned the 2002 title chasers' season upside down.

Mark Loram, Dean Barker, David Norris, Joonas Kylmakorpi, Joe Screen, Adam Shields and Peter Ljung make up the Eagles team.