Eastbourne Eagles roared to the top of the Elite League with a hard-fought win over Oxford Cheetahs at Arlington Stadium on Saturday night.

The Sussex squad overcame the reigning champions 48-42 and can underline their title challenge if they complete their fourth league double of the season at Belle Vue tonight.

They will almost certainly have to up the tempo, however, on Thursday night when rival championship contenders Wolves come to Eastbourne for what promises to be a highly-charged TV clash.

Eagles made surprisingly hard work of disposing of Oxford, even allowing for the fact that Leigh Adams was in a class of his own.

The Australian champion, who was also unbeaten in six rides when Eastbourne won at Oxford, flew round the Arlington circuit faster than anyone else in 2002.

Adams was unstoppable, clocking 55.7sec. in heat six, just two-fifths of a second outside the track record, and steamrollered every attempt to lower his colours.

The only time Adams was threatened was in heat nine when Joe Screen screamed past him on the boards and led until lap three when he appeared to lose power.

Eagles, seemingly coasting when they established an early eight-point lead and still ahead 34-26 with two-thirds of the match gone, suddenly found themselves with a fight on their hands.

Tactical substitute rides produced successive wins for Ales Dryml and Adams, and with Steve Johnston relegating Screen to third place in heat 12 the gap was down to two points.

Another win for Adams in the next, which was shared, meant Eagles went into the last two races 40-38 in front.

Cue two riders with Eastbourne in their veins as Dean Barker and David Norris blasted their way to a 5-1 in heat 14 to finally put the match beyond Oxford's reach.

There was still time for Adams to make it three wins in the last four races and take his personal tally to six out of six, while Mark Loram and Barker provided the thrills by racing either side past Johnston on the straight.

Barker and Screen looked impressive in the Eastbourne reshuffle, dropping their only points as a pairing to Adams, while Toni Svab wasn't out of his depth on his promotion from reserve.

Eagles, however, will be concerned they gave away too many cheap points to an Oxford team who are struggling to recapture their form of last season.

Stefan Andersson, elevated to heat-leader status, was off the pace all night and managed only three points, while Savalas Clouting, who might have felt he was harshly treated at the tapes on two occasions by referee Frank Ebdon, drew a blank.

In the end, the key men were Barker and Norris, who between them were paid for 26 points.