MENTION football and Ruspidge and thoughts turn immediately to an infamous sloping pitch and a tough and talented team once respected and feared throughout the Forest.

The present side may not, as yet, be quite as formidable as the famed team of yesteryear and they no longer play on that notorious slope. That has gone and while the field is allowed to settle, Ruspidge trek across the Forest to play their football at Lakers School at Berry Hill.

And, says manager, Paul Hopkins, it's good football too!

Ruspidge are chasing promotion from the lowest of local leagues. Beaten only twice this season and now with an impressive 10 wins from 12 games they moved to the top of the table after achieving a hard-fought victory over neighbouring Littledean.

It was not all one-way, says Hopkins.

"Littledean competed very well and worried us. They created a lot of chances and the only difference was that while we took all of ours they let scoring opportunities slip," he said.

Hopkins was full of praise for his young opponents and particularly the Littledean keeper Shaun Jennings who pulled off some remarkable saves.

His own charges led 2 - 0 at half-time with goals by Steve Bowles and Glen Morgan – the latter a 30 yarder from a free-kick "which almost took the back out of the Littledean net."

James Bowles scored the only goal of the second-half.

Hopkins' wish is for a more settled team.

"We never field the same side for two weeks on the trot. There are always injuries and players unavailable because of work. But we have some good youngsters making a positive impression, among them Reece and Jay Sutton and Matt Hopkins," he said.

He says playing in Division 4 makes attracting new players more difficult but with a young squad he is optimistic a promotion might well be on the cards.

"We have some difficult games to play and this Saturday's fixture against Redside could prove crucial," he said.

Top scorer for the season is James Bowles who has netted 24 times from only 10 appearances. Three times he has come off the bench to score.

"He did it again on Saturday. He arrived too late for the kick-off so started on the bench but again he came on to score, exactly like he has done in every game this season," said Hopkins.