Two wins out of two, maximum points and top of the table… it’s fair to say that everyone connected with Cheltenham North is buzzing at the moment.

Okay, so it’s still very early days in the new campaign, but club chairman Paul Carter has certainly been encouraged by what he has seen so far in Counties 2 Gloucestershire North.

“It’s been going alright,” he said. “I think we could be in for an exciting season.”

The signs are he’ll be correct because the North have already scored 100-plus points, winning 64-32 at home to Spartans on the opening day, before following up with a 38-27 victory at Brockworth at the weekend.

“We want to keep playing expansive, entertaining rugby,” continued Carter. “The Fijian lads have obviously had a big impact, they are a big asset.

“We want them to keep off-loading and using the skill-set that they’ve got.

“We’re optimistic about the season ahead but after the last two or three years we’re realistic too.”

That realism is understandable because the North won only five league games in the previous two campaigns. They were relegated from Counties 1 Western North at the end of last season, so no-one at the club is taking anything for granted.

The North host Stroud on Saturday – Stroud beat visiting Old Cryptians 79-10 in their only league game so far – and Carter said: “They will be a real test, they will show us where we are. They are a good side but we’ll go into that game with no fear.”

Head coach Matt Coles will obviously be hoping that his side can produce the kind of performance that saw off Brockworth at the weekend.

“Brockworth are a good team, very well drilled,” said Carter. “They beat us in pretty much every lineout, but we matched them in the scrums.

“We are improving, we’ve got a stronger front row and we’ll keep getting better.

“We’ve had a good pre-season, trained really well and you can see the players are listening to the coaches.”

Co-captains Nathan Wakefield and Naps Koro will have a big part to play going forward, of course, and there is one area – onfield discipline – where there has really been a dramatic improvement.

“Last season we had 54 cards – 50 yellow and four red,” said Carter. “There were some games where we were playing for half-an-hour with just 13 men, you can’t do anything with those numbers.

“This season we haven’t had one card, that’s even more pleasing to me than the results.”

As well as their bonus-point win, the North also won the inaugural Mark Hurley Memorial Trophy on Saturday. Hurley, a blindside flanker, played for both Brockworth and Cheltenham North.

Brockworth will have the chance to win the trophy in the return league fixture in December and it will become an annual fixture even if the teams are playing in different divisions in seasons to come.