Eastbourne Eagles pulled off an astonishing win at pop of the table Poole last night.

The makeshift Sussex outfit beat the Elite League champions 49-46 to claim all three points and boost their hopes of a play-off place.

Eagles, with three riders injured, included Polish teenager Adrian Miedzinski, who had never ridden in this country, and want-away Peter Ljung but were in front from heat one and held off two double points manoeuvres by the home team.

Throw in the fact that world champion Nicki Pedersen failed to win any of his five races, and the result is even more remarkable.

The Eastbourne matchwinners were skipper David Norris and former captain Gary Havelock, who were paid for 30 points between them, and Ljung, who finished with 12 plus one.

Norris and Havelock were responsible for a trio of 5-1 heat wins, beating Poole's star men Ryan Sullivan, Bjarne Pedersen and Antonio Lindback in the process and bagging a 3-3 in the final race to clinch victory.

Both won two races, Ljung went one better, including a spectacular victory over European Grand Prix champion Bjarne Pedersen and a vital win when Magnus Zetterstrom was on double points.

Sullivan did score a six-point win, but Eagles refused to cave in, even when they saw a ten-point lead whittled down to just one with two heats remaining.

Ljung did the business in heat 14 against Bjarne Pedersen, and then Norris and Havelock kept Grand Prix star Sullivan at the back in the final race.

Poole: Sullivan 13, Lindback 11, B. Pedersen 7, Ferjan 6, Zetterstrom 4, Kasprzak 3, Morris 2
Eastbourne: Norris 13, Havelock 12, Ljung 12, N. Pedersen 9, Miedzinski 3, Moore 0