Eastbourne Eagles 52,

Oxford Cheetahs 38

ON a bitterly cold night down in Sussex, Oxford Cheetahs crashed to a heavy defeat against the Eastbourne Eagles, and with it went their hopes of progressing to the Craven Shield final.

Cheetahs, needing to win and get the bonus point to top the group, got off to the perfect start at Arlington, when the dynamic Leigh Adams stormed to victory, in a time just two hundredths of a second outside the track record, set by Tony Rickardsson last weekend.

With Mark Lemon rounding Stefan Andersson on the second lap, for that third place, Oxford gained an important 4-2.

Krzystof Jablonski, then gave the Oxford fans more to cheer about as he capitalised on an Adam Shield's last-bend mistake, to take the chequered flag and keep the Cheetahs two points in front.

Eastbourne drew level in the next heat thanks to Joe Screen. With Sam Ermolenko winning heat four, the scores were level at 12-12.

Screen, then outgated Adams and with Dean Barker claiming third spot, the Eagles were in front, a lead they were never to relinquish.

Mark Loram and Andersson gained the first 5-1 of the night to send the home side six points in front after six heats.

Colin Meredith took immediate action, bringing in Lemon as a tactical substitute, in heat seven, but he could not do anything against the flying Screen as he stormed to his third consecutive win.

Andersson won heat eight from Lemon, with Shields in third. Sam Ermolenko, brought in as a tactical substitute, was unlucky as, he looked to have been impeded on the second bend by Shields, but referee, Frank Ebdon let the race continue.

With, Steve Johnston falling in heat nine, when trying to pass Barker, Oxford were now ten points adrift.

Adams beat Loram in heat ten but Oxford couldn't make it count as Johnston trailed in last.

Johnno did, however, inflict Screen's first defeat in heat 12 to reduce the Eagles lead to eight points, but that ten-point lead was soon restored as Loram gained revenge for his earlier defeats by Adams.

The Oxford management then threw in Jablonski as a golden tactical substitute, but he trailed in a poor last behind.

Heat 15 brought out the big guns, with Loram crossing the line ahead of a persistent Adams.

Eastbourne: Screen 15, Loram 13, Shields 9+3, Andersson 7+1, Barker 6, Kennett 2+1.

Oxford: Adams 15, Lemon 8, Johnston 6+1, Ermolenko 6, Jablonski 3, Kugelmann 0.

HEAT DETAILS

Heat 1: Adams, Loram, Lemon, Andersson. 55.4.

Heat 2: Jablonski, Shields, Kennett, Kugelmann. 58.7.

Heat 3: Screen, Johnston, Barker, Kugelmann. 57.3.

Heat 4: Ermolenko, Andersson, Shields, Jablonski. 57.8.

Heat 5: Screen, Adams, Barker, Lemon. 56.4.

Heat 6: Loram, Andersson, Ermolenko, Kugelmann. 57.0.

Heat 7: Screen, Lemon, Johnston, Kennett 57.9.

Heat 8: Andersson, Lemon, Shields, Ermolenko 57.9.

Heat 9: Screen, Ermolenko, Barker, Johnston 57.7.

Heat 10: Adams, Loram, Shields, Johnston 57.4..

Heat 11: Adams, Barker, Lemon, Kennett 57.1.

Heat 12: Johnston, Screen, Shields, Jablonski 58.5.

Heat 13: Loram, Adams, Kennett, Ermolenko (f.rem) 56.7.

Heat 14: Shields, Lemon, Barker, Jablonski. 58.3.

Heat 15: Loram, Adams, Screen, Ermolenko. 56.8.