Mark Loram won £1,000 for his boss last night as Eastbourne Eagles went three points clear at the top of speedway's Elite League.

Eagles came through with a 49-41 win over Poole at Arlington.

Loram beat world champion Tony Rickardsson in heat 13 and that was enough to net Eagles promoter Terry Russell the cash.

He bet his opposite number Matt Ford that Rickardsson would not gain another maximum in Sussex after doing it twice already this season.

The Poole superstar looked on course until Loram pushed him wide on the first bend and held on for victory.

Adam Shields, riding for the Eagles in place of broken leg victim Toni Svab, was in sensational form for Eagles. He wowed his growing legion of fans with four heat wins and a match-winning 14 points.

Eagles made the perfect start with maximum heat wins in the first three races.

But Poole's new boys Lars Gunnestad and Henka Gustafsson kept picking up points and the match remained on a knife edge after Poole closed the gap through astute use of tactical substitutes.

Eastbourne: Adam Shields 14, Mark Loram 12, David Norris 9, Joe Screen 6, Stefan Andersson 4, Paul Hurry 2, Savalas Clouting 2. Bonus Points: Andersson 2, Screen 2, Norris 1, Hurry 1, Clouting 1.

Poole: Tony Rickardsson 17, Lars Gunnestad 10, Gary Havelock 6, Henka Gustafsson 5, Hans Andersen 3, Andre Compton 0. Bonus points: Gustafsson 2, Andersen 1, Havelock 1.