Table-topping Cinderford are hoping for a crowd of more than 500 when they lock horns with fellow high-fliers Chinnor at Dockham Road (3pm).

Something has to give in National Two South tomorrow whether it be a first defeat for either side or, in the case of a draw, the end of Cinderford’s 100 per cent winning start to the campaign.

Five wins out of five tells its own story, of course, and Cinderford’s director of rugby Paul Morris is delighted with the quickfire opening that the club have made to the new season.

“We’ve made a very decent start,” said Morris. “It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to where we are and we’re in very good shape at the moment.”

They certainly are after racking up more than 250 points and claiming five bonus-point wins. It’s a record that only Taunton Titans have been able to match this season, albeit they have scored 35 points fewer, while third-placed Chinnor dropped a couple of points in their opening day draw at Clifton.

They’ve won their last four since then, however, and Morris knows there is plenty at stake tomorrow.

“It’s a big game for sure,” he said. “If you look at the squads on paper you’d say that Chinnor are probably the best club in the division, but with that comes pressure.

“They’ve spent some money and you look at it and think they’ve got to go up this season because their squad is very good.”

It’s what happens on the pitch that matters of course and Morris knows his team will have to perform better than they did last week at Redingensians, when they were involved in a thriller before snatching a last-gasp 37-36 win.

“It was a stunning game of rugby,” said Morris. “The standard was incredible and games like that are the reason why we play the game. There was huge respect on both sides and it was quite simply a magnificent game.”

It may have been a magnificent game but Cinderford only just escaped with their 100 per cent record intact.

“We needed 10 points to win with six minutes to go,” said Morris, “but we were brilliant in that last six minutes. It’s the first time that we’ve been exposed this season and we’ll have to be much better against Chinnor.”

Morris was understandably reluctant to go into details about his team’s failings in Surrey, but it doesn’t take a rugby genius to work out that the coaches will have been paying even closer attention than normal to the defensive side of their game in training this week.

And while it was James Moffat who claimed the glory with his penalty that sealed the points six days ago, Morris was keen to see the praise shared around.

“George Evans was magnificent on Saturday,” he said. “He’s played over 200 games for the club, has been converted from the back row to the second row and was outstanding against Redingensians.

“And we had four players in the side who have served their time in the United. They’ve come through the ranks to get their chance in the first team.”

The fab four Morris is referring to are Jack Shields, Aaron Ryan, Dale Lemon and Terence Babarinsa, with centre Babarinsa the youngest player in the side at just 20.

That quartet, along with the try-scorers on Saturday – Jack Hayes (2), Reuben Norville, Matt Lane and Tim Brockett – will all be hoping to play prominent roles in Cinderford’s campaign over the next few weeks and months, with Norville and Lane having already scored eight tries and six tries respectively.

What gave Saturday’s win extra significance was the fact that Cinderford failed to beat Redingensians home and away last season. They also failed to beat Chinnor – who defeated Redingensians 36-14 two weeks ago – in 2016/17 and Morris added: “When it came down to it on Saturday it was 15 v 15 and who wanted it most.”

It could be just as close tomorrow and, if it is, Morris is hoping that the 15 players in red, yellow and black can hear the support of the Dockham Road faithful who could be the team’s 16th man.

“We’ve been getting around 450 to 500 for our home games this season,” Morris said. “I’d hope we’d get in excess of that against Chinnor. It’s a decent standard and we’re good to watch.

“The club have engaged with the fans and we’re putting out four teams most weeks.”

These are indeed happy days at Cinderford. They’ll be even happier if they’ve made it six of the best at about 4.40pm tomorrow.