ELITE LEAGUE: League tables at the half way stage

June 30, 2014 editor

Here’s how the Elite League table is shaping up at the mid-point of the season, with every team having ridden each other once.

Elite League after 5 rounds

	P	W	D	L	Points	*Points Dif.*
Horspath	5	5	0	0	10	35
Wednesfield	5	3	0	2	6	53
Ipswich	5	3	0	2	6	-3
Sheffield	5	2	0	3	4	19
Poole	5	1	0	4	2	-46
Newport	5	1	0	4	2	-58

Horspath stretched their lead to 4 points with a win away at early pace setters Ipswich. The Eagles have now lost two on the bounce and will be keen to get back to winning ways away at Newport at the end of the month. Wednesfield’s title hopes were dealt a massive blow away at Sheffield, their home form has been faultless, but the Aces have lost both of their away matches. Sheffield on the other hand have started to make good progress after managing to put out a full team in the last two rounds, with two big home victories, they’ve finally got some space between them and the bottom two. Poole will be delighted to be off the bottom on points difference, they now have finally got a side that is competing well, after a dreadful start of the season away to Wednesfield. Newport have slipped down the table in recent weeks, their Midland contingent didn’t travel to Poole on Sunday and they suffered for it. They will need a full strength side at home to Ipswich, if they are going to get back to winning ways.

The smart money will be on Horspath for the title at this stage, however the run in won’t be easy, they’ve still got to travel away to Wednesfield and Poole, but they will have the home advantage against Sheffield, Newport and Ipswich in the remaining fixtures. Next up for the Hammers is Sheffield visiting the Village. It’s going to be a belter, with the Stars finally finding their form and no DMP racing, which means Horspath’s Polish riders may be available to fly over. There were a couple of points in it in the opening match of the season, so expect fireworks! Wednesfield will need to travel well to Poole if they are going to keep their league challenge on track, the Dorset side will be no pushovers and Ipswich’s title challenge will probably be over if they don’t come away with any points against Newport.

Whatever happens, round 6 will definitely be a significant feature in the outcome of the title race.