Well here we are the final week of the season and there are still some important games to be played. Lets start:
Premiership North.
With the top two places sealed we have the winners East Kilbride Pirates guaranteed as the number 1 seed an Tamworth Phoenix firmly in the 2nd seed. It gets interesting from here as Lancashire Wolverines are guaranteed playoff football but the question is what seed will they get and which London club do they have the task of taking on. After them things get technical, Sheffield Predators host Coventry Jets with both teams needing a win. Coventry win and they are in the 4th seed and a win by 32 points or more and they push the Wolverines in to the 4th seed and take the 3rd seed. Either way they travel to London. Then Sheffield Predators enter the frame. If the Predators can win this tie they by 14 points or more they can jump into the 4th place seed. All this is bad news for Yorkshire Rams who either way are out of the running due to their inferior points difference.
So the last playoff place is up for grabs in the Predators v Jets game. Predators win by 14 or more they are in, the Jets win they are in lose by less than 13 and they still scrape through.
Premiership South.
This is all complete with the only surprise of the season being Bristol Aztecs breaking up the domination of the London clubs. The Warriors take the 1st seed, Blitz, Aztecs and Olympians follow in that order.
National Central.
There is no more complicated division than this with the final day of the season upon us and with all 6 teams in action the title really could end up with any of the top 3 teams and with the records in this division only the champions will get a playoff spot. This is the type of last day that the Premiership dreams of. Oxford Saints currently top the division with a 6-3 record, .667 win percentage and a points difference of +114. They simply need a win and for Peterbourgh to not win by more than 103 points (seems like a silly score but who knows). Shropshire Revolution host Peterbourgh Saxons and both these teams have a chance at the division title if they win this game and Saints slip up. Shropshire have actually lost less games than both the teams above them but with 2 ties this season their win percentage is only .556. If they win and Saints lose they take the top spot and head to the playoffs. The same of course is true for Peterborugh Saxons as a win on the road against Shropshire and a loss from Oxford could send them on the road in the playoffs. The Saxons could also win the division if they score 114 points more than Oxford win their game by. I hope that clears up that division.
The rest of the National League.
With Solent Thrashers taking the NL South West with a 10-0 season they claim the top seed over the also 10-0 Watford Cheetahs on their superior points difference. The 3rd seed is currently held by the Clyde Valley Blackhawks who finished top of the NL North with a 9-1 record but a win by the Merseyside Nighthawks could see them jump above the Blackhawks with a season ending 9-0-1 record. The expectation of course would be that the Nighthawks wrap a comfortable win over 1-7 Crewe Railroaders and seal that 3rd seed.
That leaves the complicated mess of the three best runners up. Farnham Knights are currently sitting 8-1 in the 6th seed with a season record of 8-1 and host Bournemouth Bobcats. If the Knights win this game they seal the 6th seed and look likely to travel North to play one of the Hawks teams. If Farnham lose by (the highly unlikely score of) 69 or more points then Chester Romans can sneak in to the playoffs (but sorry Chester I cant see that happening). Elsewhere the other two 8-2 teams are guaranteed the playoffs its just a case of what seedings they get. Ouse Valley Eagles seem to have the edge over Edinburgh Wolves with the points difference being identical but the Eagles having a better defense.
With just the last weekend to go some teams are already playing win or go home football and others are already scouting the teams they could play in the playoffs but as we know with football on any given Sunday anything can happen.
Matt Farnham
*These standings are based on our collected results from teams throughout the season and may differ from BAFA. But who ever knows what they are doing over there.
Yankin' Off 