Eastbourne Eagles had the last laugh as they stretched their unbeaten run to four matches at Arlington Stadium last night.

The Sussex squad used the controversial double points rule to turn their Elite League match against Oxford on its head.

Eight points down at mid-way, they wiped out all but one point of Oxford's lead in a single race and went on to win 47-46.

The turning point came in heat nine when David Norris was used as a tactical rider.

Wearing the "joker's" helmet, Norris roared to victory and was followed home by team-mate Adam Shields.

It gave Eagles an 8-1 heat win and left them trailing by just 29-28 after Oxford had led 28-20 after the previous race.

Up until that point, Eagles had been largely outgated and outridden, but one race later they were in front when Joonas Kylmakorpi and Peter Ljung scored a 4-2.

It was nailbiting stuff after that, with Nicki Pedersen providing the key moment in heat 13.

Pedersen squeezed through on the boards to beat new British Grand Prix champion Greg Hancock and gain revenge for being beaten in another thriller two races earlier.

It was Hancock's only defeat in five rides, but it was enough to set up an Eastbourne win.

It meant they only needed to share the two remaining heats.

Shields won the next, and then Norris and Pedersen were happy to follow Hancock home in the final race.

A lot of the racing was of the highest order with plenty of overtaking round the tight Arlington circuit.

Oxford bounced Eastbourne 10-2 in the first two races thanks to maximums by Travis McGowan and Han-cock and then Ryan Fisher and Jonas Davidsson.

Eagles hit back with a 5-1 by Norris and Shields, but they dropped more points when Kylmakorpi's throttle jammed open on the last bend and Pedersen was beaten by Niels Kristian Iversen.

Eastbourne: David Norris 16, Nicki Pedersen 11, Adam Shields 8, Peter Ljung 6, Joonas Kylmakorpi 5, Edward Kennett 1, Ulrich Ostergaard 0. Bonus points: Shields 3, Pedersen 1.

Oxford: Greg Hancock 13, Ryan Fisher 11, Niels Kristian Iversen 7, Travis McGowan 7, Rafal Dobrucki 5, Jonas Davidsson 3. Bonus points: Davids-son 2, Hancock 1, Fisher 1, Iversen 1, Dobrucki 1.