Eastbourne Eagles had the Elite League title cruelly snatched away from them at Arlington Stadium last night.

The Sussex team, who had finished on top of the league, lost out to second-placed Wolverhampton on a night of heartbreak and despair.

Eagles were beaten in the sport's first-ever championship play-off in front of an estimated 3,500-plus crowd, the biggest since they were crowned champions two years ago.

It was the result the club had dreaded, but there was almost a degree of inevitability about the outcome.

After seeing his side miss out on glory, Eastbourne boss Jon Cook said: "I am bitterly disappointed. The prize has been grabbed from us at the last minute."

Eagles won the match 46-44 but lost on aggregate by 93 points to 87.

The championship came down to a last-heat decider, but Eastbourne were always fighting an uphill battle after going 26-22 down, 12 points overall, midway through the match.

Their top rider, Grand Prix star Mark Loram, admitted: "We were beaten by a better side. It's as simple as that."

Wolves' skipper Mikael Karlsson said: "It was a fantastic team effort. We hit them hard at the beginning, and they didn't recover."

The match produced a series of high-speed crashes, two of them involving former Eagles' rider and current Sussex champion Paul Hurry.

The Eastbourne star was Billy Janniro, who had never ridden for the club before.

Eagles wanted to include him in the vital last heat, but referee Chris Gay ruled he was ineligible because he had already had his maximum number of rides.

Said Cook: "We named Billy in our line-up for the final race, but he wasn't allowed to ride.

"That, and having David Norris and Stefan Andersson riding with injuries, cost us. David was only about 50 per cent fit."