The final Premier League match was completed last weekend. This matchs between Stoke and Hull ended in a draw was between two and three weeks after the original deadline. Had Hull managed an away win, there would have been a three-way tie at the top of the table.
The desination of the title was decided some time ago when first Swindon missed out on the bonus point to Newcastle and later when Hull beat Workington but lost the bonus point. This sequence eliminated all the teams capable of overhauling Exeter.
It would be nice to congratulate Exeter and say that the best team won the title. However that would be untrue. Exeter looked a very mediocre side when they visited Armadale. Exeter won the title on the back of their home form. Exeter's away form was no better than half the teams in the league. They had the same number of away points as Edinburgh and Glasgow and only one away point more than the likes of Stoke and Newcastle.
Exeter won the title by capitalizing on their massive home advantage. They piled up such big scores at the County Ground that they were able to take all 13 aggregate match points. With the top six team all taking points off each other this proved to be enough to gift Exeter the title. However they ultimately finished level with Swindon and only won the championship on race points difference. Not only did their grotesque home advantage secure all aggregate match points but it also acted as a tiebreaker to deny Swindon the title. Arguable some examination of the aggregate match point rule might be in order. The current system has worked well in the past but couldn't cope with such an exagerated home advantage.
Of the teams that have visited Armadale, the most impressive have been Workington (before injuries wrecked their season), Swindon and Hull. Any of those three would have been worthy champions as would, at a pinch, Sheffield.
Some justice has been done in that Hull won the Premier National Trophy. This is a reward for some impressive team building by Hull who entered the Premier League late. With most of the riders already signed up at that stage Hull assembled a scratch team including cast-offs such as René Aas and Jamie Smith plus a returning Mike Smith. These riders joined the core riders dropping down from Hull's 1999 Elite League team, Garry Stead, Lee Dicken, Paul Thorp, and Paul Smith. Arguably it was Monarchs who cost Hull the title. Not only did Edinburgh stage a great comeback to win at Armadale but they also won the return at Hull. This was the Vikings' only home dfeat this season.
Swindon look favourites for the Cup after missing out on the League so agonizingly when Paul Fry lost the bonus point run-off to Bjarne Pedersen of Newcastle. They were something of an unfancied team pre-season but performed well on all tracks. Swindon defend what is surely a bulletproof 28 point lead in the second leg of the cup final this week.
The final Premier League results and tables are given below:
The Premier League season will be completed by the Young Shield play-offs. This will be contested by the four semi-finalists, Swindon, Exeter, Sheffield, and Workington. The semi-finals are likely to be Exeter v Workington, and Swindon v Sheffield.