CRADLEY saw their season come to a disappointing conclusion with a 62-27 defeat at Eastbourne in their Knockout Cup Semi-Final second leg.

The Motor Market Heathens travelled to Arlington in need of a miracle to reach the Grand Final after going down 47-43 in the first leg at Monmore Green.

But they were well beaten in wet conditions on a night to forget at Arlington which saw them condemned to a heavy 108-71 aggregate loss.

It was a tough evening for Will Pottinger’s side, who never recovered after conceding three 5-1s in the opening three races.

Skipper Max Clegg put in a fine display, reeling off four straight wins in his final four rides including victories over Adam Ellis in heats 13 and 15.

But he received little support as the Heathens ran 13 last places – and he admitted they were simply beaten by a better team.

“It was a good night for myself, but it’s a bit frustrating for the team to lose so heavily,” Clegg said.

“We knew it was going to be tough but I don’t think we expected it to be that tough. Eastbourne were just a much better team than us and we can’t really have any complaints about the result."

EASTBOURNE 62: Georgie Wood 13+3, Adam Ellis 13, Tom Brennan 10+4, Ellis Perks 10+1, Jake Knight 9+1, Luke Harris 7+2, Gary Cottham r/r.

CRADLEY 27: Max Clegg 13, Ashley Morris 5, Ben Basford 3, Richard Andrews 2+1, Tom Bacon 2, Bradley Andrews 2, Niall Strudwick (no.8) 0, James Purchase r/r.

Eastbourne win 108-71 on aggregate.