Welcome to the Hangar for tonight’s game(s). As this programme covers both Saturday against the Phantoms and Wednesday against the Bees I’ll extend a warm welcome to both sets of travelling fans as well as two welcomes to the Jets fans.
So last weekend went totally differently to I expected it to and I’m sure different to everyone expected it to. Even Payette couldn’t have seriously expected the result last weekend but if there is a positive to come from something like that it is that it’s a real shock to the system and something that will re-focus the team for the remainder of the season.
Saturday we play against the Peterborough Phantoms, over whom we have a 4-1 lead in the series so far. There is now a gap opening at the bottom of the table between the two teams looking likely to miss out on the play-offs and the eight teams that will qualify. The Phantoms are sitting outside the play-offs right now and Bracknell have eighth place with two games in hand and a 3 point lead so it’s a real up-hill struggle for the Phantoms if they are to extend their season beyond the regular season.
Wednesday we play Bracknell who right now are the team holding that last play-off spot (at the time of writing) although with a game in hand over Swindon. For the Bees and Wildcats they will be jostling for play-off positioning and potential opponents in the home and away weekend series which decides which four teams make it to Coventry.
As of right now it’s theoretical for any team to win the league but in reality it’s probably the top four who are left able to complete. MK, who amusingly promoted their game a few weeks back against Guildford as a title decider, have dropped off the pace and now sit in 5th place 12 points off the top and while they have a couple of games in hand it’s a big point difference to make up.
The run in this season looks to be an exciting one. Guildford have opened a little gap between themselves and Manchester in second and really do have to be favourites from this point in. However the Phoenix, Steeldogs and Jets all will not have given up hope at this stage. The final weeks of games will prove to be exciting I’m sure. I predicted months ago in the programme the 2 teams I thought would not make the play-offs and I won’t go into that again now but the role those two teams will play in the run in is massive. Games against them might not be vital for them when my prediction does come out in the final standings but games including them could still be vital for teams at the other end of the table.
It’s been an exciting EPL so far this season, with some massive shocks in the results and some surprise packages in the standings. It’s great to be a part of it and I’m sure you’re all just as excited. There’s been some great games, some tense moments, some real surprises and I’m sure there’s lots more of that still to come in the remainder of this season.
Enjoy the two match-ups
My team, your team, OUR TEAM
Mark
