It is the Ides of March this coming Saturday and, whilst Julius Caesar could reasonably claim to have been ignorant of the fate that awaited him as he walked onto the knives that were out for him in Rome’s ancient Senate ("Infamy, Infamy, they’ve all got it in for me"), the same cannot be said of our three teams, each of which will have been able to identify this as a crunch weekend for some considerable time.

The first team are at home to Brockworth Albion, who are one of the three teams currently occupying the relegation places in Division One of the Northern Senior League. Indeed, Brockworth are only two places off the bottom, having gained 16 points from 3 wins and 7 draws this season, although they will, presumably, take great heart from the fact that they fought back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 when the two teams met in Brockworth back in November. Jordan Kontarines, who scored both goals in the last home game against Cheltenham Civil Service, returns to the squad after a one week absence and the side is further boosted by the inclusion of Neil Bond.  Andy Herbert, the assistant manager, retains his place on the bench and Neil Howchin is also available for a second successive week.

The Reserves, meanwhile, travel to Whaddon Recreation Ground to meet Whaddon United, the team that they deposed as League Leaders last weekend. The Reserves produced one of their best performances of the season to gain a 3-0 win over Whaddon United in the home fixture just before Christmas and will be keen to continue their excellent recent run of results with another solid display on Saturday.  The side is boosted by the the return of the two Jameses, Gowing and Mole, following first team duty last weekend and Nick Griggs, who was away on Ski-ing duty last Saturday.  Matt Hall will also return in goal after missing the last match through illness.

The Third team gained another important win in trying circumstances at Cleevonians last Saturday to consolidate third spot in the table and will be expecting to be required to dig deep again this weekend when they play host to second placed Southside. The side were extremely pleased to have gained an excellent 4-2 win over their visitors this week when they visited The Burrows earlier in the season and will be hoping to take a major step towards promotion in this definitive 6-pointer on Saturday.  Brian Watts is expected to return between the sticks after deputising for the unwell Matt Hall in the second team last weekend and Graham Withers, the team's captain for most of the season up until the last few weeks, also returns following his holiday with Stuart Hurring, who is back in contention for a place himself.  The side will also be glad to welcome back the strike power of John Marchant, a scorer with the seconds last week, and Martin Reid, especially as two of last weekend's scorers against Cleevonians, Nick Darke and Chris Clarke, are absent this week.