Delighted David Norris believes Eastbourne Eagles have proved they can get by without their youngest rising star after another impressive home win.

Norris and skipper Davey Watt led the way with double-digit hauls as Eagles saw off a decent Ipswich outfit 52-40 on Saturday.

The winning bonus point, secured in heat 15, maintained Eagles’ perfect record around Arlington in four Elite League meetings under the new scoring system.

They had to overturn an early 11-7 deficit for this latest success and manage without teenage hot-shot Simon Gustafsson as well as popular Lukas Dryml, who were both on international duty.

Rider-replacement for Dryml brought wins from the first three heats and might have reeled in 11 points from 12 had the somewhat hit-and-miss Lewis Bridger not fallen chasing Jarek Hampel in heat 13.

New No. 8 Chris Schramm did not bring in anything like the points Gustafsson would have managed but he was competitive, pretty fast out of the gate and might have scored more than he did.

Meanwhile, fellow reserve Ricky Kling emerged from Gustafsson’s shadow to win the reserves’ race and then add an excellent heat 14 success ahead of the lively Danny King to leave his side on the brink of maximum points.

Watt had the final say in his evening-long battle with Hampel in heat 15, easing away from the gate while Norris completed the 4-2 in his first nominated race of the year.

Norris, whose haul included an exciting win over hard-racing Piotr Swiderski in heat six, admitted: “It feels brilliant.

“It was an exceptionally hard meeting. They got off to a flier and they have got some really good riders.

“Our massive problem was to try and cover for Simon.

“Chris Schramm was fantastic and the points he scored were so vital. He let me by in a race and he got me going.

“It’s a valid victory. It’s almost like Man United putting out a second squad to prove to people they have got strength in depth.

“We have done that tonight. I’ve had my first double figure score of the year and it has only taken two months!”

Norris was all packed up and nursing an aching back when the heat 15 call came.

He was right to be delighted with his efforts against one of his old clubs on a night when Eagles, watched by an encouraging crowd of 1,300, needed their big guns to fire.

Hampel is always a threat. He beat Watt twice to spoil the home captain’s maximum and it took something special from the Aussie to come off the final bend and pip the Pole to win a thrilling heat 11.

Watt also beat King when the Ipswich man went for double points in heat ten, though a fall for Norris ruined an Eagles 5-1 and kept Witches in the hunt for a point.

Although they survived this time, Eagles will be keen to get Gustafsson to the 12-meeting mark.

He will then receive a realistic average, opening up extra options to replace him when he is away.

Norris knows that, like Dryml or Cameron Woodward, he might end up at reserve but that will not worry Eastbourne’s record points scorer.

He added: “When Simon jumps into the team who are you going to put at reserve? Me? Cam?

“That’s a good team. Simon will blow them away whatever number he rides at and the whole thing is a strong set-up.”

Simon Gustafsson is through to the semi-finals of the World Under-21 Championship after winning the Swedish round with 13 (5) on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Lukas Dryml scored ten points to help the Czech Republic through to the World Team Cup semi-finals.