Eastbourne Eagles look set for a place in the finals of speedway's newest competition thanks to a 46-43 victory in Wolverhampton last night.

The three-point lead will give the Eagles something to defend in the second leg of their British League Cup semi-final at Arlington on October 12.

Wolves took the lead in heat two through a 4-2 from Jones and Burrows. A good ride from Adam Shields to pass Sam Ermolenko gave the Eagles a share of the points in heat four, but Wolves extended their lead to six with a maximum heat win from Adam Skornicki and Fredrick Lindgren in the following race.

The hosts' problems started in heat seven. Mark Burrows fell on the pits bend and race leader Ermolenko suffered an engine failure on the second lap, gifting Eastbourne a 5-0 to reduce the deficit to one.

Wolves responded with a maximum heat win in the following race, through Chris Neath and Graham Jones, but Peter Ljung can count himself unlucky. He exchanged passes with Neath and fell on the final bend as he chased down the home rider.

A 5-1 from Joonas Kylmakorpi and Dean Barker in heat ten reduced the deficit to one and the Eagles went in front for the first time in heat 12 after Jones was a faller on the third bend.

Jones slid off again when placed second in heat 14 and the resulting 4-2 from Kylmakorpi and Ulrich Ostergaard put the Eagles three ahead going into the final race.

David Howe raced from the tapes in heat 15 and Skornicki powered between the two visitors on the back straight. Shields and Kylmakorpi though picked off Wolves' Polish rider to share the heat.

Wolves: Howe 11, Skornicki 10, Jones 6, Neath 5, Lindgren 5, Ermolenko 5, Burrows 1.

Eagles: Kylmakorpi 12, Shields 12, Barker 9, Norris 7, Ostergaard 5, Ljung 1, Parsons 0.