Eastbourne Eagles' hopes of British League Cup glory were scotched in the first three heats as they slumped to a 56-34 defeat at Poole in the second leg of the final last night.

The Eagles, who took a 48-42 lead into the meeting at Wimborne Road, were quickly left on the back foot as Poole ran up three successive 5-1s.

Craig Boyce and Antonio Lindback combined for maximum points in heat one over Ulrich Ostergaard and David Norris, who pulled up after less than two laps with mechanical problems.

Tony Primmer and David Ruud repeated that dose with a 5-1 over Neville Tatum and Matt Read.

That propelled Poole 52-50 ahead on aggregate and it was a lead they never seriously looked like relinquishing on a wet track in front of a 2,500 crowd.

Magnus Zetterstrom and Ricky Ashworth continued the rout with a 5-1 over Joonas Kylmakorpi and Dean Barker in heat three.

There was no way back for Eagles, who fell further behind in heat eight.

That was when Ruud and Lindback got a 5-1 over Ostergaard and Read to punish Eagles' team manager Olli Tyrvainen for not making any tactical substitutions.

He brought in Barker as a tactical in heat nine, but he was outgated by Ashworth and when Zetterstrom passed the Eastbourne rider on the second bend, it was all over.

Poole: Pedersen 15, Zetterstrom 12, Boyce 9+1, Ruud 8+1, Ashworth 5+3, Lindback 4+2, Primmer 3.

Eagles: Kylmakorpi 11+1, Shields 7+1, Barker 5+1, Norris 4+1, Ostergaard 3+1, Tatum 2+1, Read 2.