Three months into the new season, how is the Stroud Football League shaping up? The Local Answer’s ‘Man in the Know’ gives his verdict.

“Division One is bubbling up nicely with no one dominant team, unlike the previous four seasons when the title winners had emerged at this stage.

“Two of the teams, with pre-season title aspirations, met on Saturday with Old Richians and Barnwood United sharing the points to leave the teams in first and third respectively.

“Old Richians are the current highest scorers with Ross Peters the leading individual scorer.

“Tom Rich of Barnwood was second top scorer last season and is currently second again as he leads Barnwood’s charge for a return to the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League.

“Barnwood fell away badly at the end of last season and may therefore need to get their noses ahead of the pack if they are to top the league come the end of April.

“Also in the mix at this stage of the season are Tredworth Tigers who have played a game more and sit in second place only on a one-goal inferior goal difference.

“The Tigers are showing a greater consistency in the current campaign after showing plenty of promise at times last season and should be in the mix all season. Tredworth and Old Richians meet this Saturday.

“The two other teams with notable records are the reserve teams of Stonehouse Town and Frampton United.

“Both have played a couple of games fewer than the teams above them but lie in striking range of the top spot. Both teams have also conceded the fewest goals in the division, a good sign of competitive teams.

“Hardwicke’s reserve team came up last season and are nicely placed in sixth spot, also not too far off the leaders. With only one game against the teams above them in the next five games, Hardwicke could be pushing for that top spot come the start of 2018.

“One of the pre-season title favourites, Tetbury Town, have been disappointing so far with only three wins in 10 games and sit in mid-table. With only two games to play in the next six weeks, Tetbury may suddenly find themselves looking over their shoulders rather than aiming to break into the title fight.

“Randwick sit next in the table and have shown a big improvement in their form from last season. However, with three tough games in the next six weeks, they may find themselves in a similar position to Tetbury come January.

“Kings Stanley lead the bottom of the table battle having picked up an impressive 5-1 win at Randwick last Saturday.

“A pre-season influx of new management and new players seemed to signal the possible return up the football ladder, but another slow start to the season makes that improbable.

“Early exits from both the County and Charity Cups mean that the next four games before Christmas will determine whether or not they can muscle their way up the table.

“Kingswood Reserves are the fourth of the County League’s reserve teams playing in Stroud League’s top flight. A real mixture of results sees Kingswood in possible relegation trouble and all three of their next games are against top-five teams.

“Charfield were another team tipped to do well this season following on from their County Cup final appearance last season. Again, they appeared to be adding a host of talented players to their squad, but the results have been disappointing with only one win in their last eight league games.

“Another south of the county team, Wotton Rovers, lie on the same seven points. Having been relegated from the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League at the end of last season, this campaign was always going to be a damage limitation exercise with the aim of then looking to recover their higher league position in the following campaign.

“After a desperate start, they then won two games but have since lost their last four. With half of their games played, they will certainly need at least mid-table form for the rest of the season if they are to avoid the drop.

“Finally, Stroud United lost a significant number of players at the start of the season and have been steadily rebuilding.

“They have still managed to pick up two wins to keep them in touch with the teams above them, but currently sit bottom. Other clubs have been impressed by their dogged determination not to feel sorry for themselves and this has kept them in several games even though they have not got anything out of them.

“But it’s that attitude that will surely see them pinching more results in the remainder of the season.”

Tomorrow, spotlight on Division Two of the Stroud League.