A terrible first race crash marred Eastbourne Eagles' 50-43 Elite League defeat in Manchester last night.

Bell Vue's No. 1 Simon Stead was thrown over the safety fence and onto the surrounding greyhound track after a collision with Eagles' top man Nicki Pedersen coming out of the second bend.

Stead was treated by paramedics for ten minutes before he was able to get up and walk unsteadily back to the pits but was ruled out of the rest of the meeting.

Pedersen, on his 30th birthday, was also down for several minutes after demolishing part of the airfence and indicated a problem with the track as he walked back to the pits.

Although the Dane was excluded for causing the stoppage, referee Margaret Vardy ruled there had been nothing malicious' about the incident. Even so, the home fans booed the former world champion for the rest of the meeting.

The Eagles were unable to take advantage of Stead's misfortune, however, and missed the chance to register their first win at Belle Vue for three years.

The Aces scored 5-1 maximums in heat four and five to establish a lead they never lost.

Eastbourne had to give David Norris a tactical ride as early as heat seven and although he won the race to score six points, partner Dean Barker finished last after being passed on the run to the line by Kevin Doolan.

Doolan and fellow reserve Joel Parsons proved the match winners for the Aces as they won five races between them and outscored their Eastbourne counterparts by 22 points to six.

The Eagles, without Stefan Anderson - who was injured in a crash in Poland on Sunday and replaced by guest Mark Lemon - kept in touch with 5-1 in heat ten and 13.

But their last chance of nicking a win vanished in heat 14. Lewis Bridger fell going into the first bend and was excluded even though it looked like he had been squeezed out and left nowhere to go.

Belle Vue: Kevin Doolan 13 plus 3 bonus, Joe Screen 12, Joel Parsons 9 plus 1, Kai Laukkanen 7, Ryan Fisher 5 plus 1, Adam Skornicki 4 plus 2, Simon Stead 0.

Eastbourne: David Norris 13 plus 1, Nicky Pedersen 10, Dean Barker 9, Mark Lemon 5 plus 1, Lewis Bridger 4 plus 1, Cameron Woodward 2.