Martin Dugard admits he did not really get nervous as a rider.

But that has all changed as he hopes to see his Eastbourne Eagles side win a competition or three.

Eagles kick off their October trilogy of finals by racing the two-legged decider of the National Trophy against Rye House this weekend.

They go to the Hertfordshire track tonight (7pm) and will hope for a big crowd as they stage the second leg at Arlington tomorrow (2pm).

Eagles also have finals in the Gold Cup and Knockout Cup to come and the Trophy is probably the least prestigious of the three.

But capturing the prize would be a landmark moment for the club which was re-born in the semi-professional third tier this summer after leaving the top-flight Elite League for financial reasons about a year ago.

Eagles fancied their chances of winning the National League title but were pipped into second place by Birmingham.

All of which explains the butterflies for their chairman as the three knockout competitions are decided in the final month of an exhausting campaign.

The Argus:

Eastbourne enjoy winning the Kent County Fours last night - with a celebratory selfie!

 

“It’s quite nerve-racking now we are there,” said Dugard, who has put in long hours with his son Connor in an attempt to revitalise the club.

“It’s now turning what we think we can do into reality.

“We always thought we could get there and we always said we could.

“Now we have just to take that one step further to actually win something.

“It would be nice to to win the major ones – but it would be nice to win all three!

“It has been a long season and we have nothing to show for it yet.

“I think it’s a feeling that we don’t want to let anybody down.”

Dugard won the British Grand Prix in his racing days and piled up points for Eastbourne.

But now he has seven riders and their equipment to worry about.

He said: “As a rider, nerves didn’t worry me because you know what you can do.

“We have been very lucky with breakdowns and things like that over the season.

“We don’t want it to all land in our lap just in one meeting.”

Eagles will be at full strength after suffering no mishaps as they won the Kent County Fours last night.

Top scorer Bradley Wilson-Dean has been sidelined by a hand injury and used the Fours as a chance to blow away any cobwebs ahead of the final.

Marc Owen, Georgie Wood and Richard Andrews also raced.

Rye House top man Rob Branford has Premier League commitments so Ben Morley stands in for the Trophy final.

Morley impressed at Arlington last time out and won the National League Riders Championship last Saturday.

Raiders boss John Sampford said: “He is on an absolute high at the moment.

“We’re going into this tie full of confidence.”

The Gold Cup final against Birmingham will be contested at Perry Barr on Wednesday and then back at Arlington for the second leg next Saturday.

Eagles will then race the winners of the Cradley versus King’s Lynn semi in the final of the Knockout Cup with dates yet to be confirmed.

Eastbourne have a definite edge over Rye House in previous meetings this season. They won 56-36 at home and lost 47-43 away in the Trophy qualifying group and did the double in the National League with victories by 54-39 at Arlington and 48-44 at Hoddesdon.

The sides clashed a fortnight ago in the Gold Cup semi-final and Eagles lost 47-42 on the road before turning it around with a 58-31 home success.

Eagles: Wilson-Dean, Wood, Owen, Spiller, Hopwood, Dugard, Andrews.

Rye House: Morley, Bowtell, Priest, Chessell, Hughes, Hume, Hunter.