Eastbourne Eagles were beaten in a last-heat decider at Wolverhampton last night.

The Sussex squad were sunk by the Karlsson brothers, Mikael and Peter, who grabbed a 5-1 to give Wolves victory by 47 points to 43.

The scoreline was an exact repeat of the earlier Elite League clash between the teams in April.

For a long while Eagles looked like winning, but in the end they were powerless in the face of a fierce Wolves rally.

Table-toppers Eastbourne took the bonus point to move four points ahead of Coventry, their main rivals for the No. 1 spot in the league.

It means, however, that Eagles, who have now lost their last three matches, must bounce back when they take on Coventry in Saturday's top of the table showdown at Arlington.

Mark Loram was again Eastbourne's top scorer with 12 points, but even he could do nothing to halt the K-men in the vital last heat.

Eagles had been in the driving seat until two races from the end when they led 40-38.

Then a tactical switch at reserve paid off for Wolves when Adam Skornicki roared to victory over Stefan Andersson with Jesper B. Jensen keeping Toni Svab out of third place.

That levelled the scores at 42-42, and Wolves were always favourites after that.

Eastbourne skipper Joe Screen came down on the first bend in heat 15, and although he rode in the rerun he could make no impression on the riders in front of him.

Mikael Karlsson won it with Peter Karlsson second, completing a paid maximum, and Loram third.

Wolverhampton: Peter Karlsson 14, Mikael Karlsson 12, Paul Hurry 6, Adam Skornicki 6, Jesper B. Jensen 4, David Howe 3, Chris Neath 2.

Eastbourne: Mark Loram 12, Toni Svab 8, Joe Screen 7, David Norris 6, Dean Barker 5, Stefan Andersson 4, Savalas Clouting 1.