Jon Cook today admitted his inconsistent Eastbourne Eagles have left him perplexed.

Eagles, badly missing the spark of Nicki Pedersen, let slip an eight-point lead over the last three races to draw 45-45 at home to Wolverhampton last night.

Peter Karlsson and Freddie Lindgren eased to commanding 5-1s in heats 13 and 15 to give Wolves a point for the draw as well as the bonus, following their 47-43 win at Monmore.

Frustration felt by Eagles at that though should be tempered by the knowledge that things could have been worse.

Without Lewis Bridger and David Norris both forcing their way inside Magnus Karlsson to force a 3-3 in heat 14, Eagles would have been handed a home defeat.

Mark Loram, guesting for Nicki Pedersen, apologised to Cook for his performance as he left the pits but he was not the only rider who failed to fire.

Eagles boss Cook said: "We really didn't seem with it and I can't say why that was.

"Mark was not able to repeat the fantastic performance he did for us last time.

"It's not a criticism of Mark but there were a couple of times when you wanted Nicki Pedersen in your team.

"It was disappointing. We were slow out of the gate and we didn't seem to be able to work the track to make the passes."

Loram was the only rider to take a point off either Peter Karlsson, an acclaimed Arlington specialist, or Lindgren before the duo took revenge in the fourth last-heat decider these clubs have served up in as many league meetings this season.

The old rivals always have highly competitive tussles and Bridger set the tone in heat two, ducking and diving with Magnus Karlsson before winning a great battle for second place behind Cameron Woodward.

There was some vintage passing too in heat three as Norris tried to get outside Billy Hamill, then tried his luck on the inside and was rewarded for his patience as he got through to follow Dean Barker in another home maximum.

Those two successful heats were all that stood between the teams after six races, the other four having finished 3-3 with Wolves riders taking the chequered flag on three occasions.

The visitors pulled back a 4-2 in heat seven as Hamill raced away but the damage would have been worse for Eagles had Ronnie Correy not drifted too far out on bend four third time around, letting Loram nip in for second.

Hamill came straight back out as rider-replacement and won again, this time beating Bridger for another 4-2 to tie the aggregate scores.

Eagles looked to have sewn up the meeting when Barker and Bridger had a 5-1 from the gate in heat 12.

It was not over, though, and Wolves' comeback was complete when Barker and Loram were well beaten in heat 15.