Lakeside find themselves at the top of the table at this early stage after they claimed maximum points in both legs of their clash with Eastbourne.

The Eagles are regarded as one of the most difficult sides to beat at home, but Lakeside opened Good Friday in wonderful fashion to record a 51-45 success with former Eastbourne pair Lee Richardson and Davey Watt doing the damage, despite the good efforts of Lewis Bridger and Simon Gustafsson.

And as expected things did not get any better in Essex later in they day as Lakeside soundly secured a 55-36 win with Swedish reserve Kim Nilsson again impressing hugely with paid 15, as Watt, Richardson and Peter Karlsson also helped themselves to double figures.

Lakeside co-promoter Jon Cook said: "Six points in the bag on a day when other fancied teams won away was crucial. When Eastbourne came back at us in the away meeting, we had Davey Watt having problems with his back and we looked on the ropes.

"But the boys came back strong again and although we could have tied up the extra point, it's also the case that at 12 points up with three heats to run, the home side were actually on three 5-1′s before re-runs were called, so we can't be too disappointed."

Pirates on top

Defending champions and favourites for this season's title, Poole Pirates showed they will be a massive force this season with a double over Coventry Bees.

The Bees themselves are fancied to make the play-offs but they were left stunned as Poole opened the day with a 49-44 win at Brandon with brilliant Australian Darcy Ward leading the home with 18 as no Coventry rider managed to claim double figures.

On the South Coast and Poole were again in dominate mood as again a Coventry rider failed to hit double figures.

Ward again was excellent for paid 14, but captain Chris Holder stole the show with a perfect 15-point maximum.

The final of the double headers was between local rivals Peterborough and King' Lynn and it was the Panthers who won both meetings with two excellent displays.

At their East of England Showground home Peterborough claimed maximum points with a 49-41 success with youngster Michael Jepsen Jensen stealing the show with 16 points.

But then hey went one better with an outstanding 17 points at the Norfolk Arena as The Panthers claimed a shock 47-43 win with Linus Sundstrom also in fine form for the home side as no Stars rider could hit double figures.

Panthers delight

A delighted Panthers co-boss Jan Staechmann said: "Michael has had a fantastic day and there was also some other good individual performances, but to be honest the whole day was a real team effort.

"Everyone had a part to play and they all mucked in and helped each other out if they had a problem. We are building a great team spirit here.

"It's a great start to our Elite League season after going all last year without an away win.

"We've put that right on opening night and we now look forward to what will be another big test at Lakeside next Friday."

The only other fixture on Friday, saw a clean sweep of away wins as Swindon Robins romped to a 53-37 win at Birmingham Brummies, following on from their home win at the Abbey Stadium 24-hours earlier.

Danish reserve Peter Kildemand was in sensational form for Swindon a he claimed paid 16 with Hans Andersen and Troy Batchelor providing good back-up.

The final meeting of the day between Belle Vue and Wolverhampton was postponed after just three heats.