Andoversford are one of the form teams in the Cheltenham Football League so far this season, writes Rob Morrison.

Although the new campaign is very much still in its infancy, last season’s Division Two champions have made a quickfire start to life in Division One of the Cheltenham League, which is sponsored by Bristol Street Motors Cheltenham Ford.

They won their opening two games with Sonnie Burrows playing a big part with six goals.

They were looking to make it three from three on Saturday as they faced a familiar opponent, Dowty Dynamos. The teams were neck and neck at the top of Division Two last season with ‘Ford taking the honours by the narrowest of margins.

Having taken four points from their opening two matches, Dowty’s can be pleased with their early season form and Saturday’s clash promised to be an early indicator of which team had progressed further over the summer.

Dowty had home advantage and at full-time secured a 3-3 draw to take a share of the points and show that they too will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Third last season and runners-up the year before, Cheltenham Civil Service are another team who have started the season strongly.

Boasting a 100 per cent record in the league and cup, they too have had a goalscorer in fine form. Stu Midwinter has found the net six times and he was looking to add to his total when he travelled the short distance to Welch Road to face RSG.

It has not been a great start for their opponents, with RSG still awaiting their first points of the season. Their poor run continued as Service cruised to a 7-0 win with Midwinter, Dan Wills and Lewis Driscoll all bagging a brace, with the scoring wrapped up by Joe McCauley.

Whaddon United Reserves were considered one of the pre-season favourites after strengthening their squad over the pre-season.

However, they find themselves bottom at the start of play to the surprise of many observers. Opening fixtures against Andoversford and Service don’t come much tougher and they were looking to get points on the board when they hosted Upton Town.

Upton won their opening league fixture and have proved stubborn opponents since joining the league, often pulling off excellent results against the top teams. Once again they proved their strength, coming away with a 3-2 win to leave Whaddon scratching their heads as they look for that first league win.

After a solid draw on the opening day at Dowty’s, Bishop’s Cleeve III faced Worcester Olympic on Saturday. Olympic had taken four points from their opening two fixtures and it was a game that John Hunt’s Cleeve need to take something from if they are to be considered serious title contenders. They duly delivered with a 3-0 victory.

Tewkesbury Town and Shurdington Rovers both started the day on zero points so something was going to change come full-time at Tewkesbury School. It was Town who ended up edging it by the odd goal in seven to leave their opponents struggling near the foot of the table.

In the final game in the division Kings hosted Newton. Promoted last season, Newton have won one of their opening two fixtures and Wayne Baker’s men were hoping to build on this.

Kings drew their opening game and, after finishing just above basement team FC Barometrics Reserves last season, will be hoping they are not embroiled in a relegation campaign this year. However, a 1-0 defeat leaves them with a single point from their opening two games, although that is better than three other teams.

It has been a dream return to the Cheltenham League for The Beeches, winning their opening two games, including putting 11 past Andoversford Reserves last weekend.

They started the weekend top of Division Two but faced a potentially tricky tie against second-placed Pittville United.

Playing at the Winchcombe Hub, United won their opening league game at Prestbury last weekend but knew this match was likely to be a tougher challenge. It proved to be more than a little tough as United were hammered 9-0 by the newcomers who maintain their 100 per cent record in the league.

Cheltenham Civil Service Reserves were left kicking their heels after their opening day opponents, Newlands Athletic, withdrew from the League.

Manager Dan Midwinter, brother of first-team hot-shot Stu, was hoping his team weren’t short of match fitness when they finally got their league campaign started against Prestbury Rovers.

Prestbury had won one of their two opening league matches but were unable to make it two as Service took all three points with a 3-0 win.

It was a weekend to forget when Andoversford Reserves were hammered 11-1 by The Beeches. They returned to league action against Hanley Swan looking to build some confidence and add some points. Swan won their opening match but tasted defeat last time out at FC Barometrics Reserves.

Any opportunity Andoversford may have looked for to build confidence was gone by full time as Swan eased to an 8-1 victory to leave them bottom.

Relegated at the end of last season, Barometrics opened their account last weekend with victory over Swan and were looking to extend their run further when they hosted Southside Star at Bishop’s Cleeve Sports Ground.

Star went down narrowly 2-1 to Gala Wilton Reserves last time out and are still looking for a point after Baros scored seven without reply.

With a win and loss in their opening matches Gala faced Tewkesbury Town Reserves on Saturday, another team who were starting their league campaign late.

The later start didn’t appear to hamper Town who took a point in a 1-1 draw.

By a quirk of the fixture computer, Bredon Reserves were facing familiar opposition on Saturday when they travelled to Fintan. The two teams met in the reverses game last Saturday when Fintan came away with a 2-0 victory.

This time it was Bredon’s turn to triumph, reversing the score from last week in a 2-0 win

Two games into the season and AFC Renegades topped Division Three, and the newly promoted team were hoping they could keep their winning run going in Saturday’s match against FC Lakeside Reserves.

Renegades put eight past Falcons Reserves last weekend, including a Steve Smith hat-trick, and had already beaten Lakeside 4-2 in the cup.

Going into the game as favourites, Renegades duly delivered with a 5-0 win.

The big game in the division saw Leckhampton Rovers host St Paul’s. Rovers had won their opening two league fixtures while St Paul’s were unbeaten in all competitions since their formation last season.

Again the pre-match indicators suggested that St Paul’s were favourites having already beaten Rovers 3-0 in the cup.

However, with the two teams meeting again next weekend in the County Cup, Rovers will be buoyed by the 3-3 draw they claimed to halt St Paul’s 100 per cent start to the season.

Cheltenham Civil Service III won Division Four last season but Scott Edginton’s men have had a disappointing start to life in Division Three, slipping to defeats at the hands of St Paul’s and Leckhampton.

Their season did not get any easier when they faced a FC Barometrics III team who went into the season as one of the favourites.

Baros won the league last season but missed out on promotion when their Reserves team were relegated from Division One. They kicked off their league season with a 6-1 win at Dowty Dynamos Reserves last weekend and continued their winning start with a 4-1 victory.

With three points each at the start of play, Brockworth Albion Reserves’ match at Charlton Rovers Reserves promised to be an interesting encounter between two teams who would expect to be at the right end of the table come May.

Their shared expectations were played out on the pitch with the teams taking a point each after a 2-2 draw.

Windyridge Rovers defeated Lakeside 6-3 last weekend, which saw captain Wes Sharpe’s men move onto maximum points after their opening two games. The Lakeside game included five goals for the prolific David Keylock, taking him to seven for the season in the league.

Unlike Windyridge, opponents Dowty Dynamos Reserves had not registered a point from their opening two matches going into the game. Their pointless run continued after Rovers won 5-2.

In the final game in the division Kings Reserves hosted Falcons Reserves. With neither team winning a point in their previous games something had to give. At full time it was Falcons who were the happier team after a 3-1 win gave them all three points.

Malvern Vale have started their new season in buoyant form following relegation at the end of last season, winning their opening two games including a 7-1 defeat of Charlton Rovers III last Saturday.

Vale hosted Andoversford III, a team who had lost their opening match 2-0 as well as slipping to defeat in their two cup matches. The winning run continued as Vale won 5-1.

Prestbury Rovers Reserves were another team who started the 2017/18 season with two wins. They looked to extend their winning run against Gala Wilton III. With one victory and one defeat Wilton were not going to be a pushover but it was a game that Rovers would need to get something out of if they were to be considered serious title contenders.

With home advantage Rovers eased to a 6-1 win to maintain their excellent start.

After a challenging start, new boys Woodmancote United got off the mark last weekend with an impressive 5-0 defeat of Gala, helped by two Michael Lloyd goals.

They hosted Malvern Vale FC Academy who had put seven past Winchcombe Town Reserves last time out. United were unable to claim back-to-back wins though, going down 3-0.

Welland Reserves won their opening match last season and would have fancied their chances against bottom club Charlton Rovers III. With two defeats against their record, Rovers were looking to kickstart their campaign but it was not to be as they slipped to a 6-0 loss.

Cheltenham Saracens III against Smiths Athletic Reserves promised to be an intriguing tie at The Folley. The teams both belong to well-established Cheltenham clubs with first teams playing further up the footballing ladder.

It has not been easy for both clubs in recent years and after being relegated at the end of last season, Smiths will be pleased to have come away with a 4-3 win

After shipping seven goals the previous weekend Winchcombe Town Reserves were hoping for a better result against a Fintan Reserves team who won their opening league match. Their hope was well placed as they won 4-3 to get their first points of the season on the board.