Eagles grab first trophy (From The Argus)

Eagles grab first trophy

11:21pm Wednesday 25th March 2009 in Search

Eastbourne Eagles have claimed the first silverware of the new season and they did it in real style.

Eagles won 49-43 at league champions Poole Pirates tonight to clinch a 98-84 success on aggregate in the Elite Shield.

Lewis Bridger led the way with four wins out of four, his first top-flight maximum.

Bridger, pinpointed as key man ahead of the meeting by team manager Trevor Geer, was in scintillating form and enjoyed wins over Poole’s highly-rated big two Chris Holder and Bjarne Pedersen.

Reserve Simon Gustafsson also excelled by scoring 14 points, including a win over Pedersen.

There were contributions down the order, with skipper Davey Watt having three of Eagles’ ten heat wins.

Stength at reserve was also in evidence as Gustafsson and Ricky Kling had a heat-two 5-1 which sent Eastbourne into an early 9-3 lead.

The only downside was an injury to Lukas Dryml in his first race of the night, heat three.

Dryml damaged a leg as he collided with Joe Screen and is already a doubt for tomorrow’s trip to Lakeside in the Knockout Cup.

Geer savoured a lap of honour at the home of Eagles’ arch rivals, then said: “It’s fantastic. The team spirit this year is really good and we know we have seven riders capable of scoring points. We are not carrying anybody.

“Poole are still a good side but people have been writing us off and we go out there with nothing to lose.”

Poole: Holder 12 (5), Screen 11+1 (5)^, Pedersen 8+1 (5), Davidsson 7+1 (5), Stonehewer 4 (6), Phillips 1 (4).

Eagles: Gustafsson 14 (7), Bridger 12 (4), Watt 11 (5), Woodward 6+1 (4), Kling 4+1 (5), Norris 2 (5), Dryml 0 (1).