So the league table looks like this:

POS P W D L GD PTS
1 Counterslip 9 6 3 0 9 21
2 Bristol Sanctuary XI 9 6 0 3 9 18
3 Woodland Rangers 8 5 2 1 9 17
4 SAS United 8 4 1 3 4 13
5 Pip n Jay 7 4 0 3 4 12
6 Thornbury Baptist 9 3 1 5 -2 10
7 Christchurch 9 3 1 5 -5 10
8 Hilfields Park Baptist 7 1 3 3 -9 6
9 Widcombe Wanderers 8 1 2 5 -12 5
10 Kensington Baptist 8 1 1 6 -7 4

So what are the surprises so far then? Let's start at the top. Slip. Whilst they have always been capable of beating anyone, I thought at the start of the season they would be midtable at best having lost Tim as their main striker but they have picked up one or two that have added quite a bit to their midfield and maybe another year of maturity to some of their players...... But you think that they might still drop points against teams that BS XI wouldn't drop points against as they have shown against Hillfields and Widcombe already. But they certainly look up there for the long haul and are in a great position for a first title. As for Woodies, I didn't think at the start of the season we would be challenging at the top but we are flying at the moment and are looking like challenging at the top. BS XI don't quite look the force they were last year but they just don't drop that many points. They have their Slip bogey games out of the way and one against us so they won't drop that many more points.

SAS and Pips are still in the shout of the title, maybe SAS are just on the edge of things but Pips look capable of launching a title bid.

At the bottom it seems Kensignton are struggling for numbers which is a shame as they sounded like a good side who could have had a good season if the same players who played last season were consistently around this season. TBC and Christchurch should have enough to steer clear of relegation so it looks like it will be 2 from 3 as they are showing at the bottom. Hillfields have shown some fight last season so maybe they would be favourites to avoid the drop.

Easily the most wide open season in a long time. I still think any one of 5 can win it. So much depends on keeping key players fit and available as well as fighting on two or three fronts.

Inevitably the teams that have started slowly will also spring a few surprises.

All to play for in 2012!

Merry christmas all.

jim

It's been a very interesting return to Div 1 for The Baps. After a slow start, we have had a decent run which has taken us to 10 points by Christmas, above our target of 9.

At the top 'Slip continue on their amazing run. The table does not lie and they deserve to be up there. To be unbeaten at Christmas is an excellent achievement. However, the best teams we have come up against have been BSXI and Woodies. BSXI beat us 3-0 when it could have been a cricket score, and we had a pretty strong team out against Woodies and they were comfortably the better side and looked excellent. We had some understrength teams out in our 2 matches v Pip n Jay (the indicator is if I start then we are understrength!) but they looked really good. We would have struggled to beat them even with our best XI out. It's too tight to call who will win the title, but in my book, on their day, BSXI are the strongest side. But, of course, they have lost 3 matches already (of course losing to 'Slip is a given). It's between the current top 3 but Pips could force their way into the mix.

Looking further down it looks like any two from the teams in the bottom half. We beat understrength Christchurch and SAS teams, were lucky to draw with a strong Widcombe team and had a walkover against Kensington who, when they are full strength, are a very good side. We haven't played Hillfields yet in the league.

What we have noticed is a massive difference between Div 1 and Div 2 is that in Div 2 you can get away with missing one or two key players. You don't get away with it in Div 1 as most teams have quality in every position. So, the teams that are unable to keep a stable first XI, are chopping and changing and are struggling to get 11 players will struggle to stay up. We went down with 18 points a couple of seasons ago and we believe we need 19 points (3 more wins) to stay up. It's going to be tight again but I hope Widcombe and Kensington give themselves a chance by having big enough squads to choose from.

You will never find me making excuses about players missing as a reason for losing as to do well you have a decent large squad of players; it's dealing with key players being absent which is crucial to success. Team will always be missing players. When we won back to back titles (it seems a long time ago now!) it was because we had a big group of quality players that were committed and available.

All to play for - it's a season of two halves!