New time for Tigers’ test

With the Bandits’ league campaign over the attention now can be fully focussed on the GHT Bullets’ bid for National Development League silverware.

They still have two fixtures to fulfil and they will go a long way towards deciding who will face who in the top four play-offs.

First up is at defending champions Mildenhall on Sunday when the Bullets will form the first part of a double header which also involves Plymouth Centurions. As a result the start time at West Row has been brought forward to 2pm and the Tigers’ management have announced that admission will be £22 adults, £20 concessions.

Bullets talisman Greg Blair will be able to pass on tips to his team-mates after being called up to guest for Oxford Chargers. The Jedburgh rocket was reflecting on a typically eventful outing for the Bandits against Scunthorpe when the call came through from Oxford boss Peter Shroeck.

On medical advice Challengers’ number one Jordan Jenkins had to pull out of the fixture on Saturday after aggravating an abdominal injury in Redcar’s victory over the Scorpions on Friday. Blair accepted the booking – albeit technically in place of the Challengers’ Nathan Stoneman – whose absence with a broken shoulder blade he had covered in the Berwicfk side – at 10pm and was on the road to Suffolk 11 hours’ later.

But there was little he could do to prevent Mildenhall beating Oxford comprehensively for the second time in four days to force their way past the Chargers into the final qualification spot.

Oxford have just one more opportunity to overhaul the Tigers – when Kent Royals visit Cowley a week on Wednesday – and Mildenhall’s results on Sunday will decide whether that becomes a dead rubber or becomes a qualification decider.

Leicester, currently in second place, trail the Bullets by four points but still have three fixtures to race – home to Kent on Saturday, Berwick seven days later and a trip to Armadale on September 23. As a result the play-off picture remains fluid – first faces fourth in one semi-final and it’s second against third in the other – with five teams still in the hunt and all permutations of final finishing positions still possible.