Eastbourne were thrashed 56-34 on home shale and lost their new No.1 to injury in a nightmare pre-season outing.

Eagles lost 56-34 to Kent in the first half of Good Friday double-header, despite advantages in the first and last heats.

Kyle Hughes, who won heat one, suffered a suspected broken ankle when he fell as he led his second outing.

It all made for galling viewing for home fans in a good crowd as Kent were repeatedly quicker out of the gate and avoided the errors which seemed to bedevil a home side who struggled to deal with their own track.

Eagles supporters will have serious concerns ahead of the league opener at Coventry on Monday.

Georgie Wood was unfortunate to suffer mechanical gremlins when he led his first race and Richie Andrews was ahead when heat ten was stopped due to Charley Powell’s fall.

Eagles could also point to the fact three of Hughes’ rides had to be taken by reserves.

But the new reserve pairing of Powell and Nick Phillips struggled badly and more experienced Eagles riders failed to find form.

Debutant Jake Knight slowly got better as he went on and helped Hopwood to a dominating 5-1 in heat 15 to deny Danny Ayres his maximum.

But it was not enough to safe face.

Eagles: Hopwood 8 (5), Knight 7+2 (5), Wood 7 (4), Andrews 6 (4), Hughes 3 (2), Powell 3 (6), Phillips 0 (4).

Kent: Ayres 13 (5), Bowen 11 (5), Shanes 10+1 (4), Mason 7+1 (4), Thomas 6+1 (3), Verge 6 (5), Clifton 3+1 (4).