Eastbourne Eagles will have had no competitive practice before Saturday's Elite League opener at Swindon after bad weather hit their opening match.

A sudden downpour saw their challenge match against Peterborough Panthers postponed with just hours to spare.

Eagles co-promoter Bellerby said: "It proved to be a huge disappointment.

"We knew a number of our fellow Elite League clubs had already suffered problems with the weather, we honestly thought that we would strike lucky."

He added: "A heavy downpour hit us, seemingly from nowhere at around 5.30pm and such was the ferocity it quickly became apparent that under no circumstances could our match against the Panthers go ahead.

"This was confirmed by referee Phil Griffin who arrived shortly after."

Bellerby confirmed that the match will not be rescheduled but that the club were endeavouring to stage a meeting with the Panthers later in the season.

"We do intend to stage a special and exciting meeting, the format of which is still in the planning stage, with a provisional date of 27 May, our first scheduled Thursday night fixture.

"We would like to assure our season ticket holders that this meeting will be covered as part of the season ticket package. We are keen to do this as we don't feel that they should miss out on a promised fixture, or indeed in any way."

Eagles face Swindon Robins in their Elite League opener on Saturday evening.

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