COVENTRY’S Knockout Cup aspirations came to an end with a 54-36 defeat at Eastbourne on Saturday.
The Europress Bees were always up against it as they defended a narrow two-point advantage from the first leg, and they went out by a 16-point margin despite putting up the best display of any visiting team to Arlington so far this season.
And halfway through the match it was very much an open contest as the scores were level on aggregate with just seven races remaining.
But the Bees fell away in the final stages with Georgie Wood and Mark Baseby in dominant form for the Eagles as both completed full maximums, whilst Tom Brennan dropped just one point from five rides.
Jamie Halder performed superbly for the Bees at reserve with paid-12 from six outings, but they weren’t helped by a heavy crash for Luke Ruddick in Heat 5 when he was brought down by Charlie Brooks.
At that stage the scores on the night were level with Jon Armstrong having become Bees’ first winner in Heat 4 with what turned out to be Brennan’s only defeat, whilst Halder took third.
And a fine ride by Halder in Heat 8 saw him get the better of Kelsey Dugard and Jason Edwards whilst Ruddick pulled up after his earlier crash.
Two successive 5-1s then put the Eagles in control of the tie, with Armstrong penalised for touching the tapes in Heat 9 as Baseby and Dugard took advantage; and then Wood and Edwards notched another maximum as Edwards got the better of Danny Phillips in a race-long battle.
Bees maintained an interest in the tie with two more shared races, but Wood and Brennan secured matters for the Eagles with a 5-1 over Armstrong and Connor Mountain, and the same combination maxed out against Mountain and Phillips in the final race.
Bees go straight back into action on Sunday with a National League clash against Kent at Leicester (3pm).
EASTBOURNE 54: Georgie Wood 15, Tom Brennan 12+2, Mark Baseby 12, Jason Edwards 8+2, Kelsey Dugard 7+1, Charlie Brooks 0, Charley Powell r/r. COVENTRY 36: Jamie Halder 10+2, Connor Mountain 8, Danny Phillips 6+1, Jon Armstrong 6, Luke Harris 4+2, Luke Ruddick 1+1, Jamie Bursill 1+1. Eastbourne win 98-82 on aggregate.
