Eastbourne Eagles suffered another blow to their play-off hopes when they were beaten 47-43 away to Elite League strugglers Ipswich last night.

Once again, Eagles were left to rue the absence through injury of Mark Loram, whose four rides taken by other riders yielded just one point.

And if that was not bad enough, then Sean Tacey, guesting for Adam Shields, failed to score, while Shields scored 20 the last time Eastbourne were at Ipswich.

Joonas Kylmakorpi and skipper Joe Screen, the Sussex squad's best riders on the night, kept Eagles up to pace with the home side with a couple of 5-1 heat wins.

And when Kylmakorpi and Dean Barker registered another 5-1 in heat 12, the visitors led by four points with three races left.

Back-to-back maximums for the home side, however, scuppered Eastbourne, who had to settle for the bonus point as a consolation.

Ipswich: Scott Nicholls 14, Jarek Hampel 8, Daniel Nermark 7, Paul Hurry 6, Freddie Eriksson 5, Chris Slabon 4, Leigh Lanham 3.

Eastbourne: Joonas Kylmakorpi 15, Joe Screen 11, David Norris 10, Dean Barker 7, Sean Tacey 0, Edward Kennett 0.