Looking at the current table the main contenders have to be Harpenden Town, Hoddesdon Town, Cockfosters and London Lions. Crawley Green have surely played too many games with some teams having up to seven games in hand over them. Kings Langley could have an outside chance but I think they will need to win most of their remaining matches which is a very tough ask indeed.
SPARTAN SOUTH MIDLANDS LEAGUE
DIVSION ONE CURRENT TABLE (TOP SIX ONLY)
| POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | FORM |
| 1. | HARPENDEN TOWN | 24 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 53 | 20 | +33 | 52 | WWLWWL |
| 2. | HODDESDON TOWN | 24 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 63 | 36 | +27 | 52 | WLWWDW |
| 3. | COCKFOSTERS | 21 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 75 | 20 | +55 | 50 | WLLWWW |
| 4. | CRAWLEY GREEN | 26 | 16 | 2 | 8 | 67 | 44 | +23 | 50 | LWWWLL |
| 5. | LONDON LIONS | 19 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 53 | 10 | +43 | 49 | WLWWWD |
| 6. | KINGS LANGLEY | 21 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 68 | 33 | +35 | 41 | WDWWWW |
London Lions have only lost twice in their nineteen games played. These defeats came against promotion rival's Harpenden Town and Hoddesdon Town but I would still place them and Cockfosters as favourites to finish in the top two. Although there are many games left to play from now until the end of the season.
Ex Waltham Forest front man Adam Bolle and ex Wingate and Finchley/Dagenham and Redbridge midfielder Sam Sloma have been scoring the goals for the Lions this season. They also have midfielder/winger Josh Kennet who really stood out when TheColdEnd saw them play Clapton in the FA Cup earlier in the season. Kennet started his career as a youth player with Millwall and Totthenham Hotspur. He then moved onto Oxford United where he made one football league appearance and has also played Israeli Premier League for Maccabi Herzliya. He is only 25 years old and I believe he could play at a much higher level of the game. Lions also count ex Enfield Towner Dean Nyman amongst their ranks.
Hoddesdon Town have been fighting to go back up the Premier Division since they were relegated in 2005. They had been members of the top division since the mid 80s when they moved from the Athenian League. They have finished 7th, 5th, 3rd, 5th, 4th, 9th and 3rd in Divsion One since being relegated.
In the 2007/08 season when they finished third they missed out by five points to Haringey Borough who went up as runner's up to Kentish Town. It was the same total last season when Ampthill Town pipped them to second place despite them scoring an amazing 121 goals in 42 league games.
Could it be eighth time lucky for Hoddy?? I'm sure there local rivals Cockfosters will have something to say about that. 'Fosters with their ex Enfield Town contingent are having a brilliant season as they also look to regain their Premier Division status that they lost in 2009.
Paul Marks, Richard Morton, Dennis Marharjan, Fergus Moore and Fabio Valenti (also Assistant Manager) have all turned out for the Borough of Enfield based side this season.
Cockfosters have also had some good news of late when their ex reserve and youth team player Sean Shields became yet another one of John Still's Dagenham and Redbridge non-league signings. Shields had been playing at St Albans City this season. TheColdEnd wishes him the best of luck in his football league career. The Daggers have the best record for recruting non-league players and giving them a chance in the football league. One of the best examples is Dwight Gayle who was picked up from Essex Senior League Stansted in the summer of 2011. After spending 2011/12 on loan at Bishops Stortford he has improved and recently moved to Peterbrough United for a fee of £500,000 (which could rise to £750,000). This the same move Craig MacKail-Smith made in 2007 so Gayle is in good company.
With the league being so close it maybe results against each other that decide the finishing places for the current top six. The below is the current league table of results against each other. It shows there are many points on offer with London Lions and Cockfosters still to play the current top six five times before the end of the season -
TOP SIX V TOP SIX TABLE
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS | TO PLAY |
| HARPENDEN TOWN | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 3 |
| HODDESDON TOWN | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 4 |
| LONDON LIONS | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 5 |
| COCKFOSTERS | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 5 |
| CRAWLEY GREEN | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 20 | 6 | 3 |
| KINGS LANGLEY | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 6 |
KEY GAMES COMING UP
Saturday 26th January
Cockfosters v Kings Langley
Tuesday 5th February
Kings Langley v Hoddesdon Town
Tuesday 12th February
Kings Langley v London Lions
Wednesday 27th February
London Lions v Cockfosters
**potential title decider**
Saturday 2nd March
Harpenden Town v Cockfosters
Saturday 9th March
Cockfosters v Hoddesdon Town
Saturday 23rd March
Crawley Green v London Lions
The top crowd in the division so far came when 210 people watched the Winslow United v Buckingham Athletic local derby game on Tuesday 14th August.
The lowest crowd came on Saturday 1st December when London Lions beat Sun Postal Sports 3-1. Only 5 people watched this game.
New Bradwell St Peter are rock bottom on only two points from twenty-two games. Their only points came from draws against Winslow United on the 21st August and more recently on the 12th January. Their last league win came on Saturday 14th April 2012 at home against Sun Postal Sports (3-2).
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