All first round cup ties have now been resolved. Six teams have won through to the second round to join Berwick and Glasgow who both drew byes.
One thing that stands out is the closeness of the results. Edinburgh's 43-29 win against Arena Essex turned out to be the biggest winning margin by any team.
The first team to go through was Exeter despite the fact that they only won against the Isle of Wight by 50 points to 40 at the County Ground on Monday. This followed a sequence of scores in excess of 70 by the home team. Any thoughts that the Islanders might capitalize on this were soon ended one day later as Exeter came up with a rare away win by 47 points to 42. This put the Falcons through by 97 points to 82. Exeter face Glasgow in the second round. Glasgow will hardy relish a trip to the County Ground havung lost by 74 points to 16 in the Premier League a few weeks. Glasgow only avoided a whitewash in the last heat when guest Scott Swain beat Exeter reserve Chris Harris. With James Grieves, who is hardly a County Ground specialist, back, Glasgow will certainly struggle to get points away. Glasgow will be reliant on picking up an uncharacteristically big home win.
Swindon opened their Cup campaign with an away win at Reading by 47 points to 43 on Monday night. Although Reading put up a spirited fight at Blunsden on Thursday, Swindon won by 46 points to 44. This put the Robins through by 93 points to 87. Swindon have earned a crack at Berwick in the second round.
Sheffield faced Hull at New Craven Park on Wednesday in a match that they could have avoided. In the original draw for the cup, Sheffield received a bye along with Glasgow and Berwick. When Hull made a late switch to the Premier League, they appeaed to have missed out on the cup until Sheffield sportingly agreed to forgo their bye and meet Hull in the first round. Hull took a 48-42 point lead to Owlerton and secured a 45-45 draw to go through by 93 point to 87.
Edinburgh won won through, despite losing by 48 points to 42 at Purfleet on Friday, after a 43 points to 29 win in a 12-heat rain-affected match at Armadale on Saturday. Edinburgh progressed by 85 points to 77.
Edinburgh's opponents in the second round would come from the Newport-Workington tie. The first leg at Derwent Park on Saturday was also shortened by rain with Workington winning by 40 points to 31. In the return on Sunday at Newport, the home team won by 48 points to 42, but this was not enough as Workington went through to meet Edinburgh by the narrow margin of 82 points to 79.
The final tie to be completed was Newcastle v Stoke. The Loomer Road leg on Saturday was won by the home team by 48 points to 42. Newcastle might have expected to overturn this margin in the return on Sunday night at Brough Park. However, Stoke won the away leg by 47 points to 43 to go through by 95 points to 85.
The revised draw for the second round is as follows:
Berwick v Swindon
Edinburgh v Workington
Exeter v Glasgow
Hull v Stoke
The Edinburgh v Workington clash appears to be the pick of the second round ties. Workington who remain favourites for the Premier League face Edinburgh the Cup holders for two of the three years it has been contested. Hull face a tricky match against Stoke who ride the New Craven Park track well. Exeter will expect to get past Glasgow given recent form. Berwick v Swindon could be a difficult one to predict with Alan Mogridge a master of the Swindon track. Berwick only lost 44-46 at Swindon in the League. Berwick will probably need to replace one or more of their injured second strings, Scott Lamb and Scott Smith, if they are to be competitive.
The Cup appears wide open. League Champions, Sheffield, are out, as are last year's finalists Arena Essex. Reading, who won the Cup in 1998 and were beaten semi-finalists in 1997, have also been eliminated. Exeter's formidable home form will make them difficult to beat over two legs. Several of the teams in contention, notably Stoke, Hull, Swindon, and Edinburgh have proved more impressive away from home that on their own track. That adds to the unpredictability of the whole thing.