Glasgow trip can kick-start title bid for Eastbourne Eagles

Glasgow Tigers are again amont the strongest looking sides in the league spearheaded by ex-Grand Prix and former British Champion, Craig Cook, and featuring a strong septet right down the order.

The Eagles will travel north with quiet confidence as captain Lewi Kerr has declared himself fit just two weeks after an operation on his broken collar-bone and a run out in the Speedway Grand Prix Challenge Qualifier at Glasgow last week. In that meeting, Tom Brennan, who went to school in Hassocks, excelled from the reserve berth shocking some world class riders with a massively impressive nine points from just four completed rides.

Richard Lawson is returning to one of his former tracks and Kyle Newman, who was denied a hero role in Eagles’ last match by a cruel engine failure for Newman when in a match-winning position in the final heat, the Eagles are not to be under-estimated anywhere.

Edward Kennett has had a secret behind-closed-doors practice at Eastbourne in an attempt to cure some mechanical and confidence gremlins and will seek to kick start his season.

The Eagles have Jason Edwards at reserve, who will remember his brilliant heat 2 victory on his Championship debut for the Eagles in the Shield semi-final in 2019. On that occasion, a superb all round team performance saw Eastbourne go down by just found points to set up the never to be forgotten second at Arlington where the Eagles mastered their opponents for a famous victory on a tumultuous and incident packed night that enthralled a big and passionate home crowd.

The Eagles are forced in to one enforced change with Drew Kemp representing GB in an Under 19 European qualifying event at the weekend in Europe, so bring in their No 1 rider from the NDL Eastbourne Seagulls side, Jake Knight, who should enjoy the wide open spaces of the Ashfield circuit.

Team manager Trevor Geer said: “We remain confident that we have a team capable of winning the League and the Cup competitions this year and with the Play Off format that we see in so many sports now, it's not always how you start, it's how you finish.

“I feel sure that the team will click very soon as most have already shown excellent form at one point or another and we can lay down a marker in our next two away fixtures at Glasgow and Redcar that we can and will peak at the right time.”

Co-Promoter Lee Kilby is also looking forwards with positivity to the next few weeks with the tough away trips to Glasgow and Redcar followed by two of possibly the biggest matches of the Championship season anywhere. He reminds supporters that that home match v Glasgow on Sunday July 4, at 3.30pm is an ALL TICKET affair.

Tickets for this eagerly awaited clash are selling fast and are available online at the club website and supporters are encouraged to purchase tickets soon as a 1,000 Covid-19 crowd limit sell-out is anticipated.

The club will then eagerly look forward to the following week’s (Sunday, July 11) double header at Arlington when the Eagles take on Leicester Lions (Championship) and the Seagulls the Leicester Lions Cubs (NDL). Tickets will be ON SALE next week.

The club will also announce initial plans next week for the eagerly awaited and Covid delayed 90th anniversary celebration at Arlington Stadium which is due to take place on Sunday, September 26, where a bumper crowd is anticipated to see legends of the club’s past, stars of the current time and prospects of the future in a fantastic planned three-hour spectacular event tracing the Speedway history of the Eagles and Arlington Stadium back from its opening in 1929.