Great Dane Nicki Pedersen and team-mate Adam Shields produced a thrilling last-heat 5-1 at Arlington Stadium last night to secure a 58-38 triumph for Eastbourne Eagles against Ipswich Witches and an unexpected bonus point.

Co-manager Jon Cook had admitted before the meeting that Eastbourne had no aspirations of clinching the bonus point after a 55-38 defeat at Ipswich in the corresponding away fixture.

However, he hadn't reckoned with a heroic display from the Eastbourne team which saw them claw back the 17-point winning margin enjoyed by Witches to record a 96-93 aggregate win.

Eagles went into the last heat knowing only a 4-2 and better would be good enough for the bonus point but despite the pressure Pedersen and Shields rose to the occasion to force Piotr Protasiewicz and Hans Andersen into third and fourth.

It was Pedersen's sixth 15-point maximum of the campaign and inspired Eagles to their biggest win of the season.

He got great support right down the team from Shields to Andrew Moore, a fact he acknowledged afterwards when he said: "The whole team is riding really well at the moment. We were 17 points behind Ipswich so to get the bonus point was a fantastic effort from everyone."

Co-manager Trevor Geer said: "It was an absolutely brilliant performance from the team tonight. I have been confident we can reach the play-offs all season and things are looking good now."

Eagles stay fourth in the Elite League table.