Trevor Geer today hailed the return to form of veteran Swede Stefan Andersson as Eastbourne Eagles held on to another bonus point.

Eagles took the overall aggregate by a single point as they defended their 55-38 first-leg lead at Reading last night.

They never looked like winning on the night, eventually going down 54-38. But the battle of the bonus was more comfortable than the final score suggests.

Eagles had the aggregate win tied up before the last two races, which Reading took 10-1.

Another Elite League point was decent reward given Eagles, as well as missing David Norris and Dean Barker, saw Davey Watt pull out midway through suffering from severe headaches.

Thankfully, Nicki Pedersen was in world class form again and he got just enough support he needed, notably from a mid-match burst by Andersson.

Having gone scoreless in heat one, the Swede produced possibly the move of the night, just when things looked darkest for Eagles.

They were 15-9 down after four races and showing no signs of making inroads into that as Andersson got away last in a heat five dominated by Pedersen.

However, he roared outside Mark Lemon down the back straight to salvage third.

Then, after attempts to do the same on Janusz Kolodziej failed, he bided his time and darted inside the Pole on the second bend fourth time around, clinching a 5-1 for Eagles.

Greg Hancock and Danny Bird replied in kind for Reading in the next race but Andersson was suddenly buzzing.

He had commanding wins in heats seven and eight, with Lewis Bridger hanging on for a point in the second of those races to give his team a 4-2.

That was one of four Eastbourne heat advantages compared to seven for the Bulldogs.

Geer was happy with the point in the end.

The Eagles boss said: "The reserves were there or thereabouts and did what we expected but Stefan was the brightest point of the night.

"It was a brilliant show from him. He is getting more confident with every meeting and when he got out in front he was winning by yards. He looked as quick as Nicki.

"With a full team I thought we would have a good chance of winning. But it was good to get the bonus with what we had."

Eagles led 7-5 after Bridger won the reserve race, though they were sitting on a 5-1 in that contest until a Cameron Woodward error. To his credit, the Aussie recovered to muscle inside Danny Bird for a point and that was the spirit Eagles needed.

Pedersen won his first three races and there was speculation, denied by Geer, he came second on purpose in heat 11 when Matej Zagar led Reading to a 4-2 which took them ten points clear.

Bridger's great pass inside Lemon on the last lap of the next race was arguably the most important move of the night. It meant he and Woodward forced a 3-3 which kept the margin at ten and allowed Pedersen to come out in white and black for heat 13.

His double-points 6-3 win ahead of GP rivals Zagar and Hancock settled the bonus battle. Which was just as well as Reading closed with a 5-1 and 5-0 in the re-run heat 15 after Pedersen and Andersson both fell in the original staging.

Like guest Kevin Doolan, Watt managed just a lone third place but even that was precious on a night when every point counted.

READING 54: Hancock 2,3,2,1*,3 =11+1 McGowan r/r Lemon 3,0,3,0 =6 Kolodziej 2*,1,2,2*,2* =9+3 Zagar 2*,2,3,2,2* =11+2 Bird 0,2*,1*,1 =4+2 Simota 1*,2,3,0,1*,3,3 =13+2 EAGLES 38 Pedersen 3,3,3,2,6,X =17 Andersson 0,2*,3,3,R,X =8+1 Norris r/r Doolan 1,0,0 =1 Watt, 1,0 =1 Woodward 1,1,0,2,1 =5 Bridger 3,X,0,1,1,1*,0 6+1