Eastbourne star Adam Shields has turned his season around in the space of seven days.

The Eagles rider sped to a 15-point maximum as the Sussex side swatted Coventry Bees aside 62-29 at Arlington Stadium on Saturday night.

It was a devastating answer from the under-fire Eastbourne riders after they had failed to record a win in their opening five matches.

Eastbourne team boss Jon Cook had warned last week that changes would follow if results did not improve in the next two matches.

Shields, the club's No. 2 heat leader, who had been struggling all season and crashed out of the heavy defeat by Poole with three points, was the man who sparked the revival.

He was cheered by the fans as he pulled wheelies to celebrate a full-house score, while his team-mates waited in the pits to give the maximum man the traditional bumps.

Shields said: "I thought at the start of the year this was the sort of thing I would be looking to do week in, week out, but it hasn't been like that.

"I just hope tonight hasn't been a fluke. It's not much good if it's just a one-off."

Shields, who began his own personal transformation by coming third in the previous weekend's league best pairs championship with team-mate Nicki Pedersen, was made to work hard for his maximum.

In heat 13, he produced an amazing turn of speed to flash from third to first in a dozen yards, while in heat 15 he fell twice in a race which was run three times.

Shields was a victim of first-bend bunching, then smashed into the fence on the third bend in a crash which referee Frank Ebdon ruled was caused by Coventry's Billy Janniro.

While Shields took top spot, Joonas Kylmakorpi and David Norris were both unbeaten by an opponent, and Pedersen's only defeat came in heat one when Janniro raced away from the tapes.

That proved to be Coventry's only heat win of the night.

The visitors are a shadow of recent Coventry teams but the big shock was the margin of Eastbourne's victory.

The team's young guns blazed for the first time and cancelled out all the visitors' tactical moves.

Edward Kennett recorded two heat wins, while Ulrich Ostergaard was involved in three home heat advantages.

Cook said: "Obviously I am delighted we are off the mark. We have to keep our feet on the ground, but the riders really showed they care a lot about making this a successful season.

"You could not fault any of them for application. Adam Shields was exceptional and showed exactly why we bought him.

"We have shown what we can do. Now we have to find some consistency."