Around the Premier League Tracks 2008
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Tuesday 12 August 2008
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State of the Premier League
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The league has about one third of the way to go. Based on a table of ‘points gained away less points dropped at home’ the four main contenders for the championship stand as follows: Edinburgh +14, Workington +13, Somerset +12, King’s Lynn +12. King’s Lynn look likely to finish with the best race points difference and, with a win at Mildenhall virtually certain, their finishing score on the table would be +15 (unless they can also win at the Isle of Wight).
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This means that to finish ahead of the Stars, the minimum target the rest have to reach is +16. Workington have only one away match left (at Berwick on August 23rd) so would have to win that to get to the +16 mark. Edinburgh would require a further two points to better the King’s Lynn total and have six away matches to manage it. Somerset would require a further four away points to hit the +16 mark and have seven more away fixtures to get them.
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But +16 is only a minimum target. More than that would rule out King’s Lynn and Workington leaving Edinburgh and Somerset in a head to head battle. The remaining away fixtures for the Monarchs are: Glasgow, Newcastle, Redcar, Somerset, Stoke and Workington. The remaining fixtures for the Rebels are: Berwick, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Isle of Wight, Reading, Rye House and Sheffield.
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So there you are – who’s your money on?
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Mildenhall
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There have been many northern tours by southern-based teams over the years some of which have been less than successful but has there ever been a more dismal set of results than the Fen Tigers produced at Armadale last Friday, Berwick last Saturday and Newcastle last Sunday? They scored 21 at the Dale, 18 at Shielfield Park and 22 at Brough Park – a total of 61, one more than Edinburgh scored in their single away match at West Row!
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It looks beyond Mildenhall’s capabilities to register even one league win home or away this season but you have to admire the enthusiasm and spirit of their gallant band of travelling supporters who, despite the terrible scores, attended all three matches and made their presence felt at all three tracks.
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Good for them – that’s the mark of a true supporter. What a credit to their team.
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Theo Pijper
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I ran into Theo last Friday afternoon (not literally of course!). He says that he hasn’t really felt at home since he left Edinburgh and is still struggling with pain from the injuries he suffered in his bad crash at Swindon. He’s got problems for next year too because he is still lumbered with his 7 plus average carried forward from last year since he just missed out on completing 12 matches for the Bandits which would have lowered his average by about a point for Premier League purposes.
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He hasn’t and won’t complete enough Premier League matches this season to get a new average nor can his Elite League scores be taken into account. So he may find it hard to find a PL team next season on the higher average particularly if the points limit is reduced. It was good to see him win a race last Friday. He also won heat 15 at Newcastle on Sunday which should do his confidence a lot of good.
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Iwish him better luck for next year.