Warriers 38 Eagles 52

The Eastbourne Forman IT Eagles have taken a big step towards securing a National League Play Off place.

They have won convincingly on the Isle of Wight to move into third place.

Team manager Connnor Dugard said: A look at the points scored by the team shows what a great team effort this was.

“It was just what we needed to launch us into a really busy September.

“We’re on fire and looking forward to tackling Kent on Saturday at Arlington. It’s going to be a big one.”

Dugard said that Wood was OK after the clattering he took in heat 13, although his shoulder was painful.

Scorers:

Warriors: Morley 13(5), Campos 9(4), Bowtell 8+1(5), Verge 4(4), Widman 2+1(4),  Tedham 2(5) Sealey 0(3) – 38

Eagles: Powell 10+1(5), Brennan 10+1(5), Wood 10(5), Spiller 8+3(5), Edwards 8+1(6), Brooks 6+2(4), Mark Baseby R/R – 52

Below is how we reported the match live tonight.

Eastbourne take on the Isle of Wight tonight (August 30) in a vital National League fixture at The Andrew Younie Smallbrook Stadium, just outside Ryde.

Many Forman iT Eagles fans have crossed the Solent today and are trackside ready to cheer their favourites to victory.

Our man Kevin Ling is there and will bring you heat by heat coverage of the match.

Paul Watson is back in Sussex bringing it altogether and chipping in with some commentary along the way.

Ethan Spiller is back and Georgie Wood has recovered from his horrific heat 15 crash last Saturday which saw him taken to hospital in Brighton.

However, captain Mark Baseby misses the match as he received a late call to go into work today.

Eastbourne: Tom Brennan, Jason Edwards, Mark Baseby R/R, Charley Powell, Georgie Wood, Ethan Spiller, Charlie Brooks.

Isle of Wight: Alfie Bowtell, Danno Verge, Scott Campos, Chris Widman, Ben Morley, Jamie Sealey, Shaun Tedham.

Just a reminder, that you are welcome to hyperlink to our running report but we respectfully ask that you do not copy the material into other websites. Thank you.

The Isle of Wight tracks is totally different from Arlington.

For those of you who haven’t been, it is 385 metres long, against 275 metres for Arlington, making it a full-on, power circuit.

First words coming up next from Kevin Ling.

The weather on the Island is dry, overcast and quite cool. A fair few Eagles’s supporters are in evidence and the crowd is building.

You have a view of the conditions from Kevin’s photograph (on home page), which shows some juniors on track a few minutes ago.

Here’s a snippet from social media for you:

Fan Grant Packham has just commented on Facebook: “Good turn out of Eastbourne Eagles fans here tonight! Fair play to you all for coming out going overseas.” 

Have to agree with Grant, it feels like overseas once the ferry pulls out of Portsmouth.

The legend that is Gordon Kennett has also wished the boys good luck tonight, via Facebook.

Acting captain Georgie Wood calls heads, wins toss and selects gates 2 and 4 in heat one.

Referee tonight is Dave Robinson, accompanied by a trainee, who we can confirm is Wayne Jarvis.

Let’s go racing.

1 Not the ideal start for eagles as Alfie Bowtell leaps from the start with Danno Verge alongside – Tom rides around Verge down the back straight to take second but he couldn’t land a blow on Bowtell. Jason Edwards gave good chase to Verge but that was how it stayed, an opening 4-2 to the Warriors with Bowtell clocking the fastest time of the season 68.6

2 Far more like it from a green and black perspective – Ethan Spiller makes the gate and leads into the first turn – Charlie Brooks is with him but Spiller gets caught up on bend 2 allowing Shaun Tedham a way through. Brooks leads the way and then Ethan atones for the first lap error by nipping through sharply on Tedham’s inside out of the second bend second time around – 5-1 all the way from there – time 72.9 , Warriors 5, Eagles 7

3 Georgie Wood takes the R/R for Base. Campos hits the first bend in the lead – however down the back straight Powell moves through on his inside and behind them Wood exercises a similar move on Chris Widman. Campos rounds Powell once more and a 3-3 looked on the cards – not so however Georgie eased past Charley heading into lap three and set his sights on Campos. Wood struck down the back straight moving swiftly into a lead he wouldn’t relinquish 2-4, 7-11, time 70.8

4 Warriors hit back as Morley posts a gate to flag effort though Wood was never far from the action – a ragged start saw Brooks last out of the start but although he gave it his best shot, he just couldn’t make up the necessary ground on Tedham 4-2, 11-13, time 69.8

Commentary: Bit of a ding-dong start at the Isle of Wight tonight with the Eagles just having their nose in front. This is a match where the target has to be four points. Looks like there is plenty of work to do with the Warriors’ top two, Alfie Bowtell and Ben Morley, on song.

5 Brennan and Edwards jet propelled out of the start and a comfortable 5-1 appears in prospect – sadly not to be and although Tom powers to a win by a near quarter of a lap from Campos – Edwards’ bike failed him down the back straight of lap two gifting the Warriors a share of the spoils, 3-3, 14-16, time 69.1

Next Arlington action is on Saturday (September 1) when we take on the Kent Kings. First race at 7.30pm.

6 Another 3-3 as Bowtell heads the field throughout – Georgie lifts at the start, gives good pursuit but to no avail. Spiller rides another fine race to deny Verge for the full four laps 3-3, 17-19, time 70.4

7 Charlie Brooks is R/R. Ben Morley hits cruise control to win by a distance from Powell – behind them Brooks gets the better of Sealey to keep Eagles’ noses in front 3-3, the score 20-22 progressively, winning time 71.3

Grading in progress

Commentary: Bowtell and Morley still unbeaten but hopefully the Eagles will get amongst the Isle of Wight’s lower order and run riot in the second half of the meeting. At this stage, it looks like heats 13 and 15 are going to need a huge effort from Georgie and Tom.

8 Spiller rides another controlled race to lead Verge throughout.  Edwards was seldom far from the action but despite a last bend surge he just fails to catch Verge on the run in. Tedham trails the field throughout 2-4, 22-26, time 72.0

9 Georgie back to winning ways in the ninth winning well from Campos. For a time it appeared a 5-1 was in prospect but Campos got the drop on Spiller on the first lap run down the back straight – Ethan remained steadfast in third however pegging Widman at the back for the 4-2, 24-30 time 70.6

10 Edwards is RR. Disaster for the Warriors as fortune favours the Eagles. Bowtell gates and looks on course for a third successive victory – the second bend of the second lap saw his motor splutter and stop leaving a clear route through for Edwards and Powell to hit the front – though Charley’s motor seemed to be protesting in the latter part he nursed it home following Edwards past the chequered flag. ahead of verge for the 5-1 that offered Eagles some breathing space, the scores now standing at 35-25 in their favour time 72.9

Interval at this point

As usual there is a children’s running race – which is pulled back for an unsatisfactory start! Then, half of the children ran in one direction and half in the other. Kevin reckons this all very unorthodox and believes the authorities will intervene and declare the result void.

We’ll be back with the serious stuff once racing resumes.

Next Arlington action is on Saturday (September 1) when we take on the Kent Kings. First race at 7.30pm.

11 Morley goes through the tapes. He is put back 15m. Morley gave it everything but although it looked liked he had both Eagles towards the end of lap two, Brennan and Edwards combined superbly, a fine display of team riding belying their ages to hold on for a second successive 5-1 for Eastbourne – progressive score now 26-40 with the visitors on the cusp of victory – time 70.3

12 Charley Powell is the RR. Scott Campos takes the win for the Warriors in race 12, fending off Powell for the full four laps – Spiller  follows on in third for a split of the points ensuring Eagles win the match with the scores now standing at 29-43 – three points certainly in the bag, with three races remaining. Can we make it the big four? Time 73.2

Commentary: Eastbourne have done well to bag the victory before heats 13 and 15 where they seem certain to face the might of Bowtell and Morley. Now the aim has to be to press and get that fourth league point. 

13 Warriors come back out fighting – Morley looking determined hitting the front – Brennan holds second while Bowtell gives Georgie something of a shove heading into the first turn. Georgie pulls up soon after leaving Bowtell to give good chase to Brennan. Bowtell forces his way into second behind his partner but although Tom remained close at hand the 5-1 went the way of the hosts, 34-44 now the score time 70.8

14 Brooks rides a brilliant first two bends emerging clear going from third to first down heading into the back straight – Powell with him and Eagles look good for the 5-1. Isle of Wight rider drops it on the first bend of the second lap but though he tried to clear the track the red lights had to go on. Tedham disqualified. Re-run: This time Widman hits the front but Powell moves through on his inside as the race heads into lap two. Brooks then executes a similar move to his first running effort by cutting inside of Widman into second bend of lap two – 5-1 to Eagles and 4 points assured 35-49 – time 73.9

Next Arlington action is on Saturday (September 1) when we take on the Kent Kings. First race at 7.30pm

15 Line up is Bowtell r, Morley b, Brennan w Edwards y – Isle of Wight take 1 and 3. Morley gates but Edwards speeds past Bowtell on the run down the back straight – Bowtell continues to pile on the pressure but Jason holds firm and looks to have his measure. Third lap, second bend, saw Bowtell pick up drive and cannon into the air fence – a nasty spill but thankfully he was quickly up on his feet – the race being awarded as a win to Morley – Edwards the second place he deserved with Tom third – 3-3,  38- 52. No time.