With the party season almost upon us, which teams in Division Four of the Stroud Football League are jumping for joy as we prepare to move into December and which teams are crying into their beer? The Local Answer’s ‘Man in the Know’ gives his verdict.

Pre-season title favourites Tredworth Tigers Reserves and Kingsway Rovers occupy the top two places in Division Four.

They were the standout teams in Division Five last season and were expected to carry on where they left off in the previous campaign.

Tredworth lie five points above Kingsway having played two games more and remain undefeated to date.

After a relatively slow start to the season, they have been in punishing form, scoring at least eight goals in three of their games.

They have the division’s top scorer in Seb Devlin who currently has scored more goals individually than each of the three teams at the wrong end of the division.

Tredworth 1sts are currently going great guns in Division One so there should be a healthy rivalry between the 1sts and Reserves, to see if either or both of them can end the season with their division title.

Kingsway continue to ease through their fixtures and have handed out several hammerings so far.

Their only loss to date is when they met Tredworth, who turned them over by 3-1. Kingsway have the meanest defence of all Division Four teams and are the top scorers, with Igor Correia-Gouveia leading their scoring stats.

Kingsway have come a long way in their very short history and this is just their third season in existence. However, this season, as previously, they have bombed out of the County and Charity Cups in surprising manner, so they will look to hunt Tredworth down to secure their third successive division title.

The surprise package in the early part of the season were Old Richians Reserves. They started with six straight wins, but have struggled in recent weeks in a six-game winless run, including two cup exits.

The team are built on Les Roberts’ legendary defensive organisational skills, as all Richians sides have historically adhered to, and will therefore be a tough nut to crack for all teams.

Avonvale United sit fourth, but are already 10 points behind Tredworth. Vale are in a rebuilding period following the collapse of their 1st team early last season when they had to pull out of the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League.

Having then consolidated as their reserve team, they struggled all last season. But they have managed to start to rebuild this season and early season form was good, including progress in the Charity Cup to the quarter-final stage, which they will play in January.

Two successive heavy home defeats to Barnwood Reserves and Frampton 3rds in recent weeks have put the brakes on chasing down the leaders, who they play over the next two Saturdays.

Tuffley 4ths are next with five wins and four losses, two of which came against Tredworth. Using a large number of former youth team players, the 4ths are progressing nicely and should be able to maintain their strong placing in the division as the season progresses.

Disappointing performances in the cup competitions though mean that they only have the league to play in now. Two fixtures against Kingsway in January could determine if they are to challenge for a promotion spot.

Frampton 3rds have an identical win/loss record to Tuffley, and have won their last three games.

With the ability to score plenty of goals, but also concede, they are one of the teams to watch if you want to see goals. And with a reasonable chance of winning a majority of their next eight fixtures to the end of January, they may be one of the teams knocking on the promotion door.

Wickwar Wanderers are currently mid-table but appear to be a team on the rise. A slow start to the season has since morphed into all teams being wary of them.

A superb win in the last round of the County Cup against North Gloucestershire League Premier Division team Mushet & Coalway opened a few eyes to their potential, and another heroic performance will be needed on Saturday in the next round against Barometrics reserve team from the Cheltenham League.

Wickwar could be the dark horse in the title race, especially as they have what appears to be a run of winnable games to the end of January.

Hardwicke 3rds are quietly going about their business in a very balanced manner, picking up wins against the teams below them.

The leading teams have been tougher for them although they did beat Frampton 3rds 7-4 back in September.

Despite being a 3rds team, they have a decent number of regular players, with their leading scorer Rich Stower already into double figures. A mid-table finish to the season would appear on the cards and that would be a respectable achievement.

Barnwood United Reserves were among the pre-season favourites to be challenging near the top of the table, but have been somewhat inconsistent so far.

Having played all of the top teams however, they may be in a false position and despite a couple of tough fixtures coming up in December, expect to see them start to climb the table in the new year.

Still in both County and Charity Cups, Barnwood Reserves face a tough County Cup fixture this weekend however, as they travel to Cheltenham Civil Service Reserves – while Barnwood and Cheltenham Civil Service first teams also face each other on the next pitch.

Alkerton Rangers are just behind Barnwood on nine points from nine games. Alkerton struggled for a team pre-season, but have managed to attract enough players now to make them competitive and they should be able to hold their own for the rest of the season.

Wins against the teams at the foot of the table have given them a gap to the relegation-threatened teams, and the reverse games against these teams will determine whether they can stay up come the end of April.

Saintbridge sit in 11th and are finding life in Division Four a tough step up from last season.

Indeed, the Gloucester-based team have been promoted for the past three seasons, although the last two were as teams promoted but not automatically.

Having started at Plock Court for their home games, they have recently moved back to the Saintbridge area and their original home ground at the Gloucester Academy School.

The change will take a bit of time for them to get used to the tight-fit pitch there, but they will hope to gain the benefit when they host their Charity Cup quarter final there in January.

Dursley Town Reserves are in the first of the relegation spots having won just once this season, an August midweek win over Hardwicke.

Dursley have struggled over the past few seasons as a club.

With their 1sts struggling at the foot of the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League, the Reserves seem to be almost powerless to stabilise at this stage, despite some early season hopes. Recent results have been very worrying as they have been on the end of nine successive defeats, many of them pretty comprehensive.

Abbeymead Reserves have also dropped down a couple of divisons over the past few seasons, although last year’s healthy fifth place finish seemed to have signalled a turnaround in fortunes for the team.

However, a loss of key players, most of whom have stepped up to the first team, including the free-scoring Jack Ashmead, has meant a rebuilding process which has so far not had the stabilising effect.

Home losses to Alkerton and Saintbridge in the past two weeks have signalled that it will take a mighty effort to avoid the drop, and two forthcoming fixtures with Dursley will go a long way to determining their season.