LAKESIDE Hammers bounced back from their 47-43 defeat at Coventry with a 57-36 win over Eastbourne Eagles at Arena Essex Raceway.

The visitors were minus Simon Gustafsson and David Norris but fielded Lewis Bridger, who was recently crowned British Under-21 champion at the Pufleet circuit.

But the Hammers ensured they capitalised on the Eagles' misfortune as they got off to a flying start with a 5-1 and a 4-2 gave them an 9-3 advantage after two heats.

Eastbourne fought back with a Bridger leading them home for 4-2.

But Hammers bounced back with a 5-1 before heats six and seven were shared to give Lakeside a 25-17 lead.

The hosts reeled off a hat-trick of 5-1s before Cameron Woodward took a tactical ride and won to take six points, and was followed home by team-mate Ricky Kling to secure an 8-1 points haul, with Kauko Nieminen getting Lakeside's consolation point.

That took the scores to 41-28 but that was as good as it was to get for the Eagles as Lakeside dominated all but one of the remaining heats.

A brace of 4-2s was followed by a shared heat before the hosts signed off with a 5-1.

"We made the most of Eastbourne's misfortune tonight and things are starting to come together for us as a team," said Hammers boss Jon Cook.

"We are really missing JK (Joonas Kylmakorpi), though, and rider replacement really isn't ideal. We're looking forward to seeing Joonas back in action when he will return to the saddle in our home meeting against Coventry on Monday 18th May."

Lakeside: 1 Adam Shields 11+3, 2 Jonas Davidsson 12+1, 3 Lee Richardson 13+1, 4 Rider Replacement, 5 Kauko Nieminen 10, 6 Robert Mear 6+1, 7 Stuart Robson 5+2.

Eastbourne Eagles: 1 Davey Watt 2, 2 Rider Replacement, 3 Lewis Bridger 7, 4 Cameron Woodward 12, 5 Lukas Drymal 8, 6 Ricky Kling 7+2, 7 Chris Schramm 0.