Bizarrely, it is Easter this weekend, before the end of March and, even more unusually, before the clocks have even gone forward. How can Good Friday be all that good when it is likely to snow? What is the point in having a bank holiday Monday when it is quite possible that everywhere will be frozen? And will the "important Easter period", so beloved of commentators and Managers alike over the years, still be so important when part of March, all of April and a fair amount of May are still to follow before the season's end? It has never been that important at a more local level, anyway, because, generally, there is one game on Saturday, just like normal. This Saturday, the first team and third team travel off to visit their respective League Leaders whilst the second team are at home to Brockworth Albion, just like the first team were last week and, no doubt, they will be hoping for exactly the same result.

The game at Slimbridge this weekend represents the first team's fourth and final chance to become the first side to beat Slimbridge in the NSL since their reserve team made the step up from the Stroud League at the same time that we became Cheltenham League Champions back in 2006. Since then, of course, Slimbridge Reserves, last season's NSL Division Two winners with a 100% record, have become Slimbridge first team, the likely, if not odds-on, champions of Division One at the end of this campaign. We have yet to score a goal against them in this time but they did not have any harder tests, in winning Division Two last year without dropping a point, than they did in the two games against Star, the eventual runners-up. This season, we lost at home to them by three goals to nil just before Christmas but pushed them all the way and made them wait until the 67th minute until they opened the scoring with their first shot on target!! Jordan Kontarines and Shaun Gluyas will both miss the trip to the Wetlands, because they are engaged in seasonal activities that make them unavailable, and it is to be hoped that team captain Tim Jones manages to make it past the warm up this week without tweaking a muscle he hadn't previously realised that he had, but the team are hopeful of welcoming back Martin Chandler after several weeks on the sidelines with a proper injury. The third team management will be keeping an interested eye on the fortunes of Mr Chandler over the course of the next few weeks because, due to his injury, he is one of a very few, select individuals who are actually eligible to play for the third team in the Minor Charity Cup Semi Final on April 2nd!!

The Reserve team, who can't play the League Leaders in their division because they retained top spot for themselves in Division Two last weekend, courtesy of their hard earned point away to Whaddon United, haven't played Brockworth Albion Reserves at all this season and now face two games against them in the space of four weeks. The first encounter will be at home this Saturday and the side will be hoping to carry on where the first team left off last weekend, when they beat Brockworth's Senior side 2-1 in the NSL. Brockworth Reserves have steadfastly clung on to a mid table position in Division Two all season but, from our perspective, a win would mean that the Reserve team would have broken through the fifty point barrier in Division Two of the Cheltenham League for the first time ever!! With availability again a bit threadbare, Chris Crichton earns an inaugural call up from the third team whilst other third team squad members, Stefano Pucello and Andy Mole, also retain their places. Matt Hall deserves praise for willingly agreeing to alter his plans to be available to take his place, once again, between the sticks and Dan Robinson is hoping to make a return now that there is no egg-chasing to watch on the telly.

Meanwhile, in Division Five, the third team face yet another stringent examination of their promotion credentials when they visit the current leaders of Division Five, FC Electrics Reserves. In common with the Reserve team, the thirds have yet to meet their opponents this week at all in the League this season and both sides go into the match on Saturday with long unbeaten runs to defend. As a consequence of the two very late goals that were conceded against Southside last Saturday, a win for the third team will not take them to the top of the table, as they are now four points behind FC Electrics, but it will take them into second spot, as Southside are without a game this weekend. With the return match, at home, scheduled for a few weeks time, a major psychological blow will be struck if either side manages to secure all three points. The squad for this weekend has a familiar look about it, retaining the services of all three of last weekend's goalscorers, with Kieran Bermingham, John Marchant and Martin Reid all hoping to get amongst the goals again on Saturday. Aitzol Calleja also returns to the fold, which is likely to feature joint player Manager, Mark Elliot, in a central midfield role whilst the other joint manager, Matt Harvey, continues to nurse his hamstring injury.

All games kick off at 3.00 pm