PREVIEW: Wednesfield go for 10 ton wins
The Elite League season partly concludes on Sunday, with in fairness, not an awful lot riding on it. Wednesfield secured the title against Poole two weeks ago, while Horspath took a narrow victory at Cookson Park against Sheffield, leaving them odds on to take the runners up spot.
Wednesfield head to the Village to make it 10 wins out of 10 in the 2015 series, it would be a deserved feat for the team that have been undoubtedly the best all year. They are likely to reach the 1000 points barrier (just 78 are needed), which would give them an average of over 100 in each match.
It’s not always clear who will turn up for Horspath. Mark Boaler is adamant on social media that he has hung up his wheels for good and is unlikely to feature, hopefully it won’t be as permanent as he suggests, which will certainly be the sport’s and Horspath’s loss. We hope to speak to Mark at some point in the near future to not only settle the score with his future, but also discuss his remarkable achievements in his CS career.
Will we see Mark Boaler on a bike again? Picture by Paul Devine.
Sheffield head to Newport with a slim chance of snatching the runners up spot from Horspath. It is largely out of their hands, as they need Wednesfield to score somewhere around another ton to stand a chance, whilst comprehensively beating their Welsh opponents themselves, as they are currently in deficit of a 39 points difference to Horspath.
Newport, who are rumoured not to be entering the Elite League next year, are in with a real chance of getting off the bottom if they beat the Stars. Their heavily negative points difference could cause them some bother if they end up on the same points as either Poole or Ipswich though.
Poole deserve more for their efforts than their two points this season, as their blend of young plus experienced riders have battled hard and are very much a “Poole” side. Home grown Hayden Chant has been one of their riders of the season, always giving it 100% effort and is closing in fast on the top riders in the country.
Ipswich, boosted by the news that Australian international, Cody Chadwick will be joining them for next season will need to take a solid team to the south coast to come away with the points. Either way, it should be a great fixture for the neutral.
Finally, Newport and Poole are still to ride each other, after their round 8 match was postponed in July due to adverse weather. It is unclear when this fixture will take place, with no sign of it on the British Cycling calendar. Both teams could get as high as fourth, so it’s a fixture that needs to take place, with a mid table finish still to play for.