Trevor Geer hailed his resilient Eastbourne Eagles after they gave their chances of grabbing a play-off spot a massive boost last night.

Simon Gustafsson led the way as Eagles handed rivals King’s Lynn a 53-37 defeat at Arlington.

The hosts were 12-6 down after three races and still only level at 24-24 after eight.

They then turned up the power to pile in four 5-1s in the next five heats and win with plenty to spare.

Eagles wrapped it up in heat 13 when Joonas Kylmakorpi and top scorer Gustafsson raced away for a 5-1 over Niels Kristian Iversen and Daniel Nermark.

It was just what they needed after two pointless away trips earlier in the week.

Boss Geer admitted: “After about four races I thought they were going to really push us but then we just seemed to get going.

“After those two away meetings we needed something good back at home and this was just right.

“Simon was really on it. He has been a bit quiet of late and he was using the same bikes and the same engines.

“But he just looked really sharp and determined. He only dropped one point up until heat 15.”

Eagles operated rider-replacement for the injured Lewis Bridger , an arrangement which brought them 8+3 (4).

Geer added: “All the boys did their bit. Cam (Woodward) was maybe not his normal self but the others made up for it.”

The rare Friday night meeting ran far longer than expected, wrecking Eagles’ plans to have it done and dusted in time for their fans to enjoy TV coverage of the Olympic opening ceremony.

But the home faithful will not have minded as their team turned in one of their best performances of the season.

Initially it seemed former Eagles reserve Ulrich Ostergaard, a recent signing by the Stars, might come back to haunt them.

He helped Iversen to a 5-1 in heat one and then handed Timo Lahti a rare defeat in the reserves’ race.

Fast-starting Kevin Wolbert rode a great heat three to hold off Gustafsson in a 4-2 which put Lynn into a six-point lead.

Eagles had to do some good work from the back to get into the meeting.

Lahti and Joonas Kylmakorpi, who was suffering from a heavy cold, both passed Daniel Nermark for a 5-1 in heat four.

Two races later Nermark and Ostergaard were on a maximum for the visitors until Kylmakorpi and Dryml forced their way through to score a 5-1 for Eagles.

The classy Gustafsson was involved in three of the four 5-1s in five races from heat nine which sent Eastbourne well clear.

They even had the luxury of conceding a heat advantage in the nominated race for the second successive home meeting.

Iversen was excluded for failing to get to tapes on time but Mads Kornelissen went out for the re-run in his place and won.

That 4-2 was of no consequence in the overall contest – or indeed the race for that fourth play-off berth.

Bridger suffered shoulder ligament damage in a crash at Swindon on Thursday and admits he needs a miracle to be fit for the British Final at Wolverhampton on Monday.

He said: “I will leave it as late as I can and do all I can.

“I can’t get to see a specialist but I have been given tips of things I can do to help the shoulder.

“I really want to be there. The British Final was one of my main targets this season.”

Bridger is also in danger of missing an appearance for Team GB in their stand-alone Test match against Australia at Poole on Wednesday.

Eagles: Gustafsson 13+1 (6), Kylmakorpi 12+2 (6), Dryml 11+1 (5), Lahti 7+1 (4), Woodward 6+2 (5), Gizatullin 4+1 (4), Bridger r/r.

King’s Lynn: Korneliussen 10 (6), Ostergaard 9+2 (7), Wolbert 8+1 (6), Iversen 8 (4), Nermark 2 (4), Szczepaniak 0 (3), Janowski r/r.