Jon Cook today warned his Eastbourne Eagles to master slick conditions or face more awayday embarrassment.

A makeshift Eagles line-up were routed 61-34 in Elite League action at Reading last night as the Bulldogs rattled up six 5-1s.

The visitors repeatedly gave themselves too much to do out of the gate on a track where passing was at a premium.

The night will go down as a learning exercise for Lewis Bridger and Cameron Woodward.

Andrew Moore and Edward Kennett, guesting for the unwell Dean Barker, hardly did any better.

The only Bulldogs any of those four got the better of were Andy Smith, after he fell and remounted in heat three, and Sam Simota, who was excluded from heat 14.

Other than that it was a case of David Norris and Nicki Pedersen trying to stem the tide.

Greg Hancock and Matej Zagar were only denied paid maximums by one thrilling defeat apiece to Pedersen.

Those two will miss the return fixture due to World Cup commitments.

But the bonus points looks to have gone west already for Eastbourne.

Promoter Cook said: "There's no hiding from it. We are not up to strength for away meetings.

"For whatever reason we cannot get things going on slick tracks.

"We've got to overcome that but it's a problem we always seem to have.

"When we come back, if Dean Barker and Adam Shields are in the line-up and Lewis Bridger has learnt a little it, I think we can do a better job.

"But we need to overcome this problem."

Pedersen insisted: "The whole team is trying their best. They weren't the conditions we prefer but they are the same for everybody."

Reading had re-think their plan to bring Janusz Kolodziej into the main body of the team and switch Smith to reserve after closer consultation with the rule book.

But it was hardly a problem for them. Kolodziej has been scoring heavily off his low pre-season average and was at liberty to do so again last night.

The start could not have been much worse for Eagles.

They suffered 5-1 reverses in the opening two heats and there might have been another in the third had Smith not fallen on the second bend when well-placed.

That allowed Kennett and rider-replacement Moore to force a 3-3, but well behind Zagar.

With Kolodziej holding off Pedersen's onslaught out of gate four to lead the first of back-to-back 4-2s, Bulldogs were 21-9 clear from five heats.

Eagles had wins for Pedersen and Norris in heats six and seven but they were only worth 3-3s.

Pedersen's success did at least offer some excitement as he got across Travis McGowan from the gate, then back out to shut off Hancock out wide.

The real frustration for Eastbourne came after McGowan and Kolodziej had romped to a 5-1 over Moore and Bridger in heat eight.

Eagles sent out Pedersen for double points out of gate one in heat nine.

But, after the Dane seemed to get the best start, Zagar got past him on the outside and raced away to limit Eagles to a 4-4.

Hancock and McGowan added a straightforward maximum over Kennett and Bridger to extend the lead to 41-21.

Norris responded with a double-points win for a 6-3 in heat 11, though he had to work hard out of gate four under pressure from Kolodziej, who was riding as an emergency reserve replacement after Sam Simota touched the tapes.

But the closing stages were dominated by Bulldogs and, most notably, Charlie Gjedde.

He whisked imperiously outside Pedersen and Norris to complete a heat-13 5-1 behind Hancock and won the nominated race to cap a miserable night for Eagles.