Peterborough paid the price for some woeful starting tonight by a solid scoring Eastbourne team who had their young stars in sparkling form. 

Panthers 8 points behind after just four races had no answer to the rampant Eagles who eventually racked up a 15 point winning margin.

Complaints by several of the home riders of the track surface were dismissed by the team manager Wayne Swales, who described the result as a bad day at the office, but he readily admitted that Eastbourne were the better team on the night and deserved there success.

The warning signs were their even from heat 1 when although Lukas Dryml held on well to win the opening heat, Ryan Sullivan struggled at the back and could make no impression on the Eagles pairing.

Simon Gustafsson just had the edge in a tight first corner to lead heat 2 but despite continued pressure from Claus Vissing for the entire four laps it finished level again with Ty Proctor an easy third.

Kenneth Bjerre was on the receiving end of a hard first corner from Lee Richardson and got taken wide; Cameron Woodward took his chance well and joined Richardson at the front and Panthers quickly found themselves 4 points down.

Vissing made a good start to lead the fourth but picked up unwanted drive in the first turn causing him to rear up and take out Edward Kennett who was chasing him hard.

Kennett however showed no ill effects in the rerun, making another fast start, and with Gustafsson immediately doubled the Eastbourne advantage with a maximum over Danny King.

Bjerre made a better start in 5 to head Scott Nicholls but Lewis Bridger easily accounted for a struggling Henning Bager and ensured their lead was maintained. 

Heat 6 looked likely to be one where Panthers could pull something back but Kennett made another great start seeing off the early challenge from Sullivan and Dryml and he shot away to win comfortably.

Danny King briefly lifted spirits in the home camp by getting the better of another hard first lap when going wide by both Richardson and Woodward, and it got better with Ty Proctor just getting the verdict on the line over after a concentrated effort for third with Woodward.

Lewis Bridger surprised everyone by leading heat 8 into the first corner followed closely by Gustafsson, Vissing had other ideas however and he maintained the pressure on Gustafsson eventually getting his reward with second place but the advantage was Eastbourne's with Dryml tailed off at the rear.

Kennett gated well to take the 9th and held on well early on despite pressure from Vissing but again the points were shared with Panthers having real problems reducing Eastbourne's lead.

Dryml won his second race of the night with a good performance in heat 10 but Richardson and Woodward shut out a disappointing Sullivan to maintain the Eagles advantage.

Bridger was the surprise leader of heat 11 as he went very wide into the dirt to head the chasing King, Eagles no 1 Nicholls was content with third place and the 4-2 they gained increased the lead to 10 points with just 4 heats remaining.

Bjerre changed his helmet colour for heat 12 to black and white and made another of his trademark starts to lead from the tapes, Vissing chasing Gustafsson hard and looking like he was making progress, suddenly spun and fell on the 3rd bend when his engine seized and any major dent in Eastbourne's lead was lost.

With Panthers deficit now down to 7 points a maximum was clearly required, and that was exactly what happened in heat 13, unfortunately it was the Eagles who got it through Kennett who completed a very tidy full maximum and Nicholls who did enough to ensure their was no way through for Sullivan.

Dryml was introduced into heat 14 as a tactical substitute in one last attempt to reduce the arrears but Bager was again left at the tapes by Gustafsson and Woodward and Eastbourne sealed a fine away win with another maximum.

Bjerre managed his third win with a heat 15 victory over the impressive Bridger but with Sullivan trailing in last the race points were shared again and Eastbourne's final winning margin was comprehensive and fully deserved on the night.

New Owner Rick Frost has now seen the highs and lows of speedway management in one week, with Monday's brilliant win over Swindon pitted against the disappointment of this result, but with current league leaders Poole due in just 3 days time, the Panthers urgently need to re group if they are to avoid a relegation battle.

Peterborough Panthers 39
Ryan Sullivan 0-2-0-1-0 = 3
Lukas Dryml 3-1'-0-3-0 = 7+1
Kenneth Bjerre 0-3-1'-6-3 = 13+1
Henning Bager 1-0-1 = 2
Danny King 1-3-2-0 = 6
Ty Proctor 1'-1-0 = 2+1
Claus Vissing 2-X-2-2-0 = 6

Eastbourne Eagles 54
Scott Nicholls 2-2-1-2' = 7+1
Lewis Bridger 1'-1'-3-3-2 = 10+2
Lee Richardson 3-2-2-1'-1' = 9+2
Cameron Woodward 2'-0-1'-2' = 5+3
Edward Kennett 3-3-3-3 = 12
Simon Gustafsson 3-2'-1-2-3 = 11+1
James Brundle 0-0-0 = 0