CHURCH Stretton’s next few fixtures will provide a barometer of their promotion credentials in West Midlands Division Two, says joint manager Scott Peever.

Stretton beat Ludlow 3-0 in an A49 derby that was closer than it sounds – two of the goals coming in the last ten minutes – to continue their excellent unbeaten start to the season last Saturday.

Five wins and a draw from their six matches so far mean Stretton sit in second place ahead of this Saturday’s visit to league leaders Gornal Colts in an early-season top-of-the table clash.

Over the next month, Stretton face the other two top-four sides, FC Darlaston and Hawkins Sports – and Peever says he will know much more about their hopes of going up after those games.

Peever said: “Saturday will be a test. Gornal are on a good run themselves, they have won four or five on the bounce, and we are expecting a tough game but everyone is confident at the minute.

“It’s still early. If we win, we won’t be saying that we are going to win the league and if we lose, we won’t get too carried away by losing either.

“If we can maintain the levels we have been playing at, we will be up there, but we are conscious that we have played more teams at the bottom than at the top.

“Saturday will be a true assessment of whether we can reach those same sort of levels against a top side and the next fortnight or so will give us a good idea of where we are.”

Stretton were frustrated by Ludlow in a scrappy first half but led minutes into the second period as Dean Richards fired home a free-kick after being brought down.

Richards missed a chance to make it 2-0 soon after when clean through before Ludlow keeper Liam Griffiths went off injured after a collision with one of his own defenders.

Adam Groom’s header beat makeshift stopper Jack Davies to seal the points with ten minutes to go and Stretton added a third at the death as Groom touched home Aaron Gough’s free-kick.

Ludlow boss Christian Leech was left to rue injuries and other availability problems that left him without several key men for the derby game.

Jack Marston (see separate story) was called up by parent club Hereford for their FA Cup clash with Truro City, while Simon Bull and Kieran Dovey were injured.

Griffiths’ fractured ribs have given Leech another headache as he will need to bring in another keeper ahead of Saturday’s trip to Warstones Wanderers.

He said: “We were depleted but I couldn’t fault the effort from the team. Their attitude was great but it was always going to be an uphill battle when Liam went off.

“I was really pleased with the first half but we came out a bit slow after the break and made a few too many mistakes that cost us.”

On Marston’s call-up, he added: “It’s great for him and great for the club. That’s what we are about – trying to push players on to better things.”