Near-perfect Nicki Pedersen today thanked his Eastbourne Eagles team-mates for saving him from a last-heat decider.

Pedersen scored 17 points from six rides as Eagles beat improved Peterborough Panthers 48-42 on a great Elite League night at Arlington.

Eagles led by an unassailable six points before Pedersen took the 15th heat to ensure he claimed the individual honours in his three-race tussle with Panthers star Peter Karlsson.

The hosts were helped by a welcome return to form for Dean Barker, who had a paid 11 points from five races before being selected by boss Jon Cook to contest an all-star 15th, which also featured Sam Ermolenko.

Adam Shields and Andrew Moore chipped in and Davey Watt found form to win the 14th heat as Eagles clinched the two points with a race to spare.

For a long time, it seemed the contest would go the distance as Panthers stayed within two points right up until heat 12.

Pedersen said: "In the past it has come down to a last-heat decider and that's too tough so I'm glad it didn't happen this time.

"That's down to the team. This is a team sport and we all have to score the points."

Barker did most to back up the Danish dynamo, not least going from fourth to first to win an outstanding 12th heat.

That was the first of two successive Eagles 4-2s which gave them breathing space.

Barker said: "I found a little bit of form, which hopefully I can keep up, but there's no i' in team as they say.

"Everybody pulled their weight. Nicki's good every week and the rest of the team are starting to get things together.

"We need Dave Norris back urgently. Once we get him back I think we'll be firing on all cylinders again."

Norris, who has missed recent meetings while recovering from concussion, expects to take a test ride on Friday and could feature against Oxford on Saturday.

Eagles needed last night's win badly after the recent home horror against Coventry and, on a sultry East Sussex night, they were red hot for the 2,500 crowd and Sky cameras.

Cook said: "We were second best in every department against Coventry but this time we showed we could battle.

"I thought halfway through, other than Nicki, we didn't look like we would win any races but Dean Barker had his best meeting in a long while. His two wins were very timely and very stylish.

"Hopefully, we've had our wobble and, if we have, it wasn't much of one."

Eagles led from the moment Ulriuch Ostergaard led in Moore for 5-1 in heat two's battle of the reserves but Karlsson, who won his first four heats, and Ermolenko would not let the hosts get far ahead.

A 15-race thriller looked in store when the first battle of the night between Karlsson and Pedersen saw the Panthers man get around the outside to lead a 4-2 for his team in heat 11.

The Eagles response though was scintillating. Moore and Barker chased down fast-starting Lukas Dryml in heat 12, Barker got through to complete his last-to-first charge and Moore nicked third from Jesper B. Jensen in a photo finish.

When Pedersen levelled the score in his battle with Karlsson in heat 13 and Shields took third, Eagles were six points clear with two to go.

Watt had been desperately unlucky to suffer engine seizure when leading on the last lap of heat nine, which Barker eventually won having cleverly overhauled Henning Bager.

But it was Watt, on a spare machine, who provided the killer blow in the 14th, reeling in Dryml with a lap to go to ensure a 3-3 which settled the overall contest.