County cup matches have usually been regarded as something of an irritant in years gone past but it is unlikely that such a state of mind will exist for the first and third teams this weekend, when they set off on their campaigns in the Senior Amateur and Primary GFA Cups respectively.

Indeed, the only team in the club that is really likely to be put out by the advent of the busiest cup weekend that will be experienced in Gloucestershire this season will be the Reserves. They will not welcome this untimely interruption to their progress in Division Two, which has seen them take maximum points from their first four games whilst scoring 23 goals. The Reserves sit it out this week, then, victims of the dearth of referees that means that even teams not involved in this week’s Cup Competitions can’t play, because there is no one else left to officiate!!

Conversely, the First team are likely to welcome the opportunity to rediscover their early season form by taking a break from the League and embracing the magic of the cup instead. Longlevens, who also play in Division One of the Northern Senior League, will provide stiff opposition but, following their defeat, last weekend, away to Wotton Rovers, whom the first team beat 4-2 on the opening day of the season, the game is wide open. Kick off at Bishops Cleeve will be 2.00 pm for this one, just in case there is an unexpected eclipse and the light goes much earlier than 7.00 pm, which is the norm at this time of year. The squad shows just one change from the side that declined any and all opportunities created to score last weekend, and this is the return of Simon Delaney. At the same time, John Marchant, who has done very well for the side over the last two weeks, drops down to the third team to ensure that he maintains his match fitness.

Meanwhile, for the second year in a row the third team travels to the wilds of deepest Stroud for a Primary Cup First round encounter and, after the frustrations of the opening weeks of the season, will just be glad to be able to keep on playing, following their last gasp win against Gala Wilton last weekend. Last year, at this stage, the team travelled south to meet Whitminster III, who were defending one of three 100% records boasted by their club at that stage of the season. An incredible game in Stroud’s Stratford Park saw the team haul themselves back level at 6-6 before Alfers spared everyone extra-time by conceding a last minute penalty. This year, the opposition will be provided by Stroud Harriers, from Stroud League Division 6, a team that has, so far this season, lost both games it has played in the League and whose game last weekend, against Coaley Rovers Reserves, was postponed for some reason. The squad for this first faltering step on the road to Primary Cup glory is shorn of both the organisational dexterity of Stuart Hurring and the cattenacio minded Stefano Puccello but, instead, it will gain the aforementioned John Marchant and will benefit, once more, from the bubble-blowing effervescence of assistant manager, Matt Harvey.