Eastbourne Eagles 59 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 31

Mildenhall Fen Tigers have a mountain to climb if they are to lift the National League KO Cup.

In their first leg against Eastbourne Eagles tonight, the young Fen Tigers went down 59-31 on the south coast.

Without Connor Mountain, who was in action for Ipswich, and using rider replacement for the injured Dan Halsey, it was always going to be a tough ask for the Suffolk side to keep it close.

Luke Harris of Cradley guested for Mildenhall, but he only managed two points, as the home side hit the Fen Tigers hard with four 5-1 maximums in the first five races.

Only 15-year-old Drew Kemp kept the Eagles at bay, winning heat two.

Jon Armstrong was away well in heat six, but Josh Bailey, on his way to a 15-point maximum, flew round him.

Luke Ruddick chased Jake Knight in the next before Kemp passed Matt Bates on lap one in heat nine.

Mildenhall were struggling to keep a foot in the meeting though and Ruddick crashed out in heat 11.

Knight didn’t get any further than the start line in heat 13 for the home side, which was good news for Mildenhall, but Bailey and Georgie Wood finished the meeting off in style for the Eagles, gating to the front to give the home team a healthy lead.

Only Kemp won a race for the visitors, who badly missed Mountain.

The second leg of the cup final is at West Row next Sunday, October 29, start time 4pm, and is part of a double header that also features Mildenhall against the Isle of Wight, in a national league fixture.

Mildenhall: L Harris 2+1, R/R, J Jenkins 3+2, L Ruddick 7, J Armstrong 9, A Spooner 0, D Kemp 10+2.