Cheltenham North travel to Longlevens tomorrow for one of the pivotal games of the season in Gloucestershire Premier.

With leaders Chosen Hill – 16 wins out of 16 – almost certain to make a speedy return to Western Counties North as champions, the race is on for the runners-up spot and an end-of-season play-off game against the second-placed team in Somerset Premier for the third promotion spot.

The battle for second place in Gloucestershire Premier is almost certainly between Longlevens and Cheltenham North and a right royal battle it is too as the clubs enter the closing stages of the campaign.

Longlevens hold a four-point-advantage going into tomorrow’s game but have played two games more than their main rivals.

They’ll have just four league games remaining after tomorrow so a win for them would open up a handy, if not insurmountable, advantage.

“It’s a really big game,” said Longlevens chairman Chris Yorke. “At the beginning of the season we thought it might be between ourselves, Cheltenham North and Chosen Hill.

“We’ve been the best three teams in the division although Chosen Hill have got away from us.”
The North beat Longlevens 35-12 at Stoke Road back in November, one of only four league defeats for the club this season.

“Our ambition is to win promotion,” said Yorke. “It’s a very tough division but we want to win promotion and kick on, we want to be considered as one of the bigger clubs in the North Gloucestershire Combination.”

The North, meanwhile, have lost only two league games, both to Chosen Hill.

They’ve also drawn other, and a win for them tomorrow would put them firmly in the driving seat as the end-of-season finishing line comes into sight.

“It’s a huge game,” said North president Rich Prewer. “We’ve already beaten them once and it’s an opportunity for us to push on.”

The North have been pushing on all season after winning promotion from Gloucestershire One with almost the last kick of the game in the previous season.

Prewer told The Local Answer at the start of this campaign that he hoped the club would consolidate this season, but they’ve done a lot more than that.

“The guys have played out of their skins,” added Prewer, a second row with the North back in the day. “They’ve exceeded expectations. It’s been great, just like seasons of old.

“All the work they’ve put in in training is paying off, now we want to be promoted.”

The leagues are going to be restructured next season – clubs will be allowed to enter their 2nd XVs and maybe lower teams into the RFU leagues in 2020/21 – but the Gloucestershire RFU have stated that any club winning promotion this season will definitely go up to the next level.