Jon Cook today revealed how a glance at his Swindon counterpart convinced him Eastbourne Eagles were back on track.

Eagles upset the form book with a 53-43 home win in the Elite League last night having stormed into a 19-5 lead.

They held on for a welcome first win in five outings despite two unfortunate defeats for Nicki Pedersen to Leigh Adams and just five points from replacement rides for Adam Shields.

All six home riders picked up at least a paid win and skipper Dean Barker earned a heat 15 call after taking the chequered flag in three of his first four rides.

Eagles boss Cook said: "You only had to look at the Swindon team manager's face during the course of the meeting to see he expected a win here.

"Fair play to the boys for riding so well. You couldn't fault a rider, everyone was doing what I hoped to see from them.

"I'm totally delighted with the performance and the spirit and I can't wait for the next time we take to the track."

That comes on Saturday against Belle Vue, when Eagles cannot expect Jason Crump to suffer ignition trouble and not even get off the start line, which is what happened to Adams in heat one last night.

David Norris and Edward Kennett posted a 5-1 to give the hosts a perfect start.

Lewis Bridger and Cameron Woodward dominated the battle of the reserves, then Barker got away on the outside and Kennett held off Seb Ulamek inside to make it 15-3 after three races.

When Pedersen muscled his way inside Lee Richardson to lead a heat-four 4-2, Eagles had their 14-point advantage.

Adams and Richardson scored double-points wins to cut arrears to 24-18 but that was the closest Swindon could get.

Barker and Norris both powered past Richardson on the outside for a 5-1 in heat nine and suddenly Eagles led by 12.

Ulamek won the next but Kennett's high-powered pass of Adrian Miedzinski meant Robins had to settle for a 4-2 heat advantage and a ten-point margin, which was how it stayed as the last five races all finished 3-3.

Pedersen was a convincing winner of his first battle with Adams but limped home second with a flat front tyre in heat 13. He was second too in a re-run heat 15 after getting the drop on Adams at the first attempt but being called back after both menhad twitched on the start line.

Kennett and Woodward looked much more comfortable last night and Barker had a very productive meeting.

"We got turned over by 14 against Swindon last time, which was a major defeat," the skipper said.

"We had a few 5-1s early on and they used a tactical by heat five but we weren't going to let it slip when we were that far ahead."

And then there is the Bridger factor. The 16-year-old may have had one of his poorer meetings in Cook's view but his two heat wins were arguably the most exciting of the night.

First, after a poor start, he got past Ritchie Hawkins, Seb Alden and Woodward for last-to-first success in heat two.

Then, after Kennett was excluded for coming a cropper in the thick stuff out wide, Bridger won a re-run heat eight when Robins were eight points down and sensing a heat advantage.

When trackside interviewer Kevin Coombes suggested Eagles were well placed, Bridger replied over the loudspeakers: "What's the score then?"

Robins boss Alan Rossiter knew the score all right. And that made Cook's night.