Witney coach Phil Harper said their rise to the top of Southern Counties North is far from an overnight success story.

Harper’s side seem to have found the consistency they lacked in previous seasons and have won nine out of nine league games so far.

But the coach, who is assisted by John Campbell, says this has all been part of a long process.

Harper said: “John Campbell and I have been together for three years now and it takes time to make progress.

“After Christmas last season we had a very good run and we are just keeping that going.

“We are getting some good strength in depth as well.

“A lot of work has gone into defence and you can see that from our points against tally.”

Witney’s squad strength was shown in Saturday 33-10 derby victory at Chipping Norton where Campbell said they were missing six first-team players.

Although they could not have had a better start in the league, Harper stressed Witney’s true potential will be shown in the coming weeks.

He said: “We have got a tough run in to Christmas with Windsor, Grove and Milton Keynes coming up.

“We’ll know better how we are going to do by the end of that period.

“If we are good enough to win it, we’ll finish top. It’s as simple as that.”