Eastbourne Eagles lost their unbeaten Elite League speedway record last night despite a superb effort by their Grand Prix star Mark Loram.

The Sussex squad went down 48-42 at Coventry, where the home side gained revenge for their 47-43 defeat at Arlington last Saturday.

Loram was in magnificent form, finishing with a paid 16 points from his six rides, but it was not enough to tip the scales in Eastbourne's direction.

Worse for Eagles was the fact they lost the bonus point to a Bees team who have now been beaten only once this season in ten matches, including six in the league.

Loram and Dean Barker gave the visitors a flying start with a 5-1 in the opening heat, and they were in contention for most of the match.

In the end, however, they paid dearly for two mechanical failures in the last three races.

First skipper Joe Screen packed up in heat 13, then David Norris was left on the start line in the final race.

Norris, who had similar problems in the match last Saturday, also fell in heat 12 when he was in second place, which also proved costly.

While Barker and Norris did provide decent support for Loram, there was little for Eagles to crow about elsewhere, with Screen managing only four points on a track where he usually performs well.

Eastbourne's early lead was soon blown away, and at one stage Coventry stretched their lead to eight points. Eagles cut the deficit to four points when Norris was brought in as a tactical substitute and led Screen to a 5-1.

The gap was down to only two with four heats to go when Loram and Barker bagged a 4-2.

That was as good as it got, though, for the Eagles with Coventry making the most of a series of mishaps late on for the visitors.

Lee Richardson rode for Coventry despite being injured in a crash in Poland on Sunday, and not for the first time this season the matchwinner for the Bees was reserve Stuart Robson, who finished with a paid 13 points.

Coventry: Stuart Robson 11, Billy Hamill 9, Billy Janniro 8, Andreas Jonsson 7, Ryan Fisher 7, Lee Richardson 4, Jason Bunyan 2.

Eastbourne: Mark Loram 15, Dean Barker 8, David Norris 8, Joe Screen 4, Adam Shields 4, Joonas Kylmakorpi 3, Seemond Stephens 0.