CRADLEY experienced another difficult evening on their travels as they went down 55-35 against Eastbourne at Arlington.

The Motor Market Heathens remain on the lookout for their first away points of the season after being well beaten by the Eagles.

It was a night to forget for Will Pottinger’s side as they faced arguably their toughest test of the season around the tricky Arlington track.


Pottinger admits they will be keen to take the positives and move on – starting immediately as they travel to Buxton in the Knockout Cup on Sunday (3pm).

Said Pottinger: “We were pretty close for the majority of the meeting, but they came on strong in the last three heats and made the scoreline bigger than it perhaps should have been.

“We matched them in terms of race wins but we just had too many lasts places unfortunately which cost us.

“We’ll move on and go to tomorrow’s meeting at Buxton looking to make up for tonight’s disappointment and get a good result.”

Ashley Morris and Max Clegg both bagged double figures for the visitors, despite coming up against the imperious Adam Ellis, who struck a paid maximum for the Eagles.

Middle order man Luke Chessell also added a creditable eight and bagged two impressive race wins.

However, the remaining three Heathens’ riders all struggled to make an impact as Ben Basford, Bradley Andrews and James Purchase all ended with two points apiece.

EASTBOURNE 55: Adam Ellis 14+1, Jake Knight 12+1, Luke Harris 8+3, Charley Powell 7+3, Georgie Wood 7+1, Ellis Perks 5, Gary Cottham 2+1.

CRADLEY 35: Max Clegg 11, Ashley Morris 10, Luke Chessell 8, Ben Basford 2+1, Bradley Andrews 2, James Purchase 2, Jack Kingston r/r.