Elite League
Eastbourne Speedway: Eagles continue purple patch
By Nick
Jul 23, 2010, 21:18

For the fourth time in as many home meetings Arlington stadium was certainly party central as the Eastbourne ‘Lifestyle’ Eagles continued a purple run of form by taking three all three Elite League points on offer courtesy of an explosive 53-40 victory over local rivals and strong Play off contenders, the Lakeside Hammers.

A cut and thrust contest throughout, one that climaxed in perfect fashion and a crescendo of emotion for the Sussex side who took each of the final two races by a 5-1 margin, Swedish reserve, the immaculate Simon Gustafsson proving the hero of the moment taking the win in each and the home supporters joy was compounded in no small way as Slovenian Matej Zagar blazed through on Lee Richardson’s inside heading into the final lap of the night, seizing the maximum victory and setting the seal on the 13-point win.

Certainly it was a triumph that had the Arlington faithful up and dancing with delight and one that Eastbourne Co- Promoter Mike Bellerby described as ‘Pretty much a perfect night for the Club’.

“Absolutely Fantastic” Bellerby enthused as the dust was still settling on a pulsating fifteen races and a titanic final heat that saw both Gustafsson and Zagar at their very best. “The supporters, along with ourselves have witnessed a superb night of entertainment, a close, no quarter given meeting and of course the right result for the Eagles. Thanks to our ‘Kids for a Quid’ offer in collaboration with the Argus, to whom we again give our grateful thanks, the crowd was significantly up on last week’s attendance and certainly within sustainable levels. The final two races – both maximum victories to the Sussex side – were right out of the top drawer and to coin a phrase ‘worth the admission money alone’ and they had everybody on their feet. The crowd have gone home happy, with only positives to draw upon, we couldn’t be happier and on this sort of form we certainly believe that we could be a match for anyone, and anywhere” Bellerby concluded.    
 
Despite all that there may have been a few inward groans from the home supporters at the outcome of heat one, the meeting commencing with a measure of tit for tat, the fast starting Lakeside duo, Kauko Nieminen and Lee Richardson’s opening race 5-1 being matched by a similar score for Eagles reserve pairing Lukas Dryml and Simon Gustafsson in heat two.

Indeed Nieminen seemed jet propelled from the tapes in the first, Richardson matching his speed around the first two bends. With Matej Zagar left almost a spectator at the back after a forceful first turn by the Team GB World Cup star, Tomas Jedrzejak slipped through on Richardson’s inside to give chase to Nieminen in the early part but the former Eastbourne skipper repaid the compliment on the run in to lap two and was seldom troubled thereafter en-route to a Hammers maximum, Zagar coming through to take third place in mid race.

Heat two saw the collective Arlington blood pressure raise, the race being stopped following a fall by Stuart Robson (Lakeside’s 17-point hero from the previous evening) with Eagles on a seemingly comfortable 5-1 and a rerun ordered, the riders not haven’t completed the regulation two laps after which a result can be awarded. Justice was seen to be done however as Dryml and Gustafsson blazed away from the lonesome Hurry at the second time of asking, claiming the maximum that levelled the scores at 6-points apiece.

Just as he had done against League leaders, the Poole Pirates seven days earlier, Cameron Woodward appeared ultra sharp out of the start leading the way from Jonas Davidsson and winner first time out Nieminen. Unfortunately for the Eagles, Ricky Kling’s was less commanding and thus the points remained shared, the scoreline moving to 9-9.

Dryml again affected local pulse rates in the fourth, taking a second victory ahead of Robson, the two reserves leaving the heat leaders, Joonas Kylmakorpi and Adam Shields in turn, trailing in their wake. The resultant 4-2 to the home side finally separated the two sides, the Eagles nosing ahead for the first time on the night, the scores moving to 13-11.
Two-points remained the margin following the next and although Richardson seized his second win, Woodward and Kling tucked in comfortably behind him to safeguard Eagles narrow lead, one that now stood at 16-14.

The differential was soon to be doubled however, Zagar hitting the front down the back straight to win comfortably from Shields and although Jedrzejak joined his partner at the front momentarily it was not to be, nevertheless, the Pole’s taming of Hurry was sufficient to earn the hosts a 4-2 and an overall 20-16 advantage.

Heat seven saw the Eagles fully step things up a gear as Gustafsson combined with Kylmakorpi to once more double the home lead, a 5-1 over Robson and Davidsson opening up an 8-point margin (25-17) at almost the mid way stage.

Races eight and nine remained shared, Nieminen claiming a second win over Dryml and Jedrzejak in the former and then Shields, against Woodward and Kling, respectively hitting the chequered flag to keep the Hammers within striking distance of their hosts, however a further 4-2 to the Sussex side in the tenth, Zagar winning out at the expense of Robson with Dryml following in third extended the Eastbourne lead to double figures (35-25) and suddenly everything in the Arlington garden seemed rosy.

Anxious moments were soon to follow however, Richardson keeping up his winning streak for the visitors in heat eleven, this time sporting the black and white helmet which signifies a tactical ride and double points. The Hammers triumph was somewhat diluted nonetheless, Nieminen being unable to gain any ground on either Kylmakorpi or Gustafsson – the young Swede’s one defeat of the match by an opponent – meaning the visitors secured a 6-3, however with Davidsson taking the win ahead of Dryml in heat 12, and Robson getting the better of a slightly out of sorts Kling, the Hammers 4-2 dictated that the difference would reduce to just 5-points, 40-35 and with the hitherto unbeaten Richardson due out in two of the final three races, a grandstand finish was certainly in prospect.

He might of drawn his critics from certain sections of the Sussex crowd in recent weeks but there could be no faulting either Zagar’s ability or indeed his commitment of those three races however, the Slovenian powering almost effortlessly to victory ahead of Shields and Richardson in heat 13 thus safeguarding the Eastbourne 5-point advantage, one that now stood at 43-38.

However, such is the change in perspective at Arlington these days, whilst the Sussex faithful would have been grateful to snatch a last gasp draw against the Hammers in the Good Friday ‘A’ League fixture, anything less than a plus seven-point win and the claiming of all three match points might have been met with an air of disappointment this time around. Those supporters were not about to experience that emotion however and although Davidsson hit clear air momentarily out of the start of heat 14, it was to be something of a brief encounter as Gustafsson and Woodward in turn roared around the Swede’s outside to claim the first of two momentous 5-1’s, one that initially put the Sussex men in sight of the 50-point milestone and then one, through the fantastic efforts of Gustafsson – once again - and Zagar that saw them burst spectacularly through it as the final reckoning as the margin extend to unlucky 13, 53-40 for the Essex visitors.
 
The final word belonged to Mike Bellerby “Reserve strength was the key for us tonight, both Lukas and Simon showing sublime form claiming 23-points (plus two bonus) to the Hammers seven. Matej Zagar showed every ounce of his unquestioned ability and once again skipper Cameron was a star being paid for double figures in only his second match back from nasty injury and four weeks out of the saddle. However, this was a fantastic all round performance from the lads against what amounts to a full strength Lakeside team, one challenging hard for a top four Play Off place and who always give us a good meeting here. I know they were missing Daniel Davidsson with injury and that’s unfortunate but they were served well by rider replacement and with the greatest of respect to Daniel I’m not sure that he would have notched the 7-points (paid 8) that the facility gleaned on his behalf. All in all a fantastic night for the Eagles, and following a meeting like that, one for the sport in general. The fans are happy which in turn pleases us, the ‘Kids for a Quid’ promotion seems to have pulled extra people through the turnstiles, the Argus are happy, we, the management couldn’t be happier at this moment in time, although after that I think I might benefit from a little lie down” Bellerby signed off with a trademark beaming smile.   
 
Scorers :
 
Eagles : Simon Gustafsson 12+2(5), Matej Zagar 12+1(5), Lukas Dryml 11(5), Cameron Woodward 9+1(4), Joonas Kylmakorpi 5+1(4), Ricky Kling 2+2(4), Tomasz Jedrzejak 2+1(3). – 53
 
Hammers : Lee Richardson 13+2(5), Kauko Nieminen 7+1(5), Adam Shields 7(5), Jonas Davidsson 6(5), Stuart Robson 6(7), Paul Hurry 1(3), Rider Replacement for  Daniel Davidsson – 40

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