Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
Maltby Main Louis Axcell feels the slight change to the promotion system makes the battle for the top two more exciting.
The FA have announced that the ten second-placed clubs with the best points-per-game ratios in the 16 Step Five Leagues will be promoted to Step Four.
The remaining six clubs will go into a play-off with six Step Four clubs.
“I speak to regularly to managers in this league and the one below and everyone agrees that two points-per-game was the target,” Axcell told Non League Yorkshire.
“Now (the new promotion rules) gives everyone that carrot and every point matters now.
“I think people will take (second place) more seriously now and I think people will be checking what other leagues are doing.
“I still think it would be better with four teams going into a play-off but this is better than what it was before.”
The race for the title in the Premier Division is turning into one of the most exciting in years as so many clubs are in contention.
There is no outright favourite as there has been in previous years and Axcell thinks it is fantastic for the competition.
“I think there will be lots of twists and turns,” he said.
“A good run by anyone in the top half now might find themselves up at the top.
“It is exciting and that’s why we are here.
“With Liversedge and Yorkshire Amateur we expected the season to be like this.
“The competitiveness makes it for a far better season and you don’t have games where you are expecting teams to win.
“It makes it greater for the neutral and makes it greater for the league and makes it entertaining.
“I think the winning team at the end of the season will have the lowest points tally for some time.”
Maltby face the current ultimate test at Muglet Lane tomorrow as they host leaders Grimsby Borough.
The fixture is the first of several against teams around them in the table.
Injuries have caused results to be mixed recently but Axcell feels his side are getting back to full strength and that it is good enough to be in the higher reaches of the league.
“We have a very small squad here and we don’t have any under 21s feeding in so a few injuries can hurt us,” he said.
“We had a few injuries and we have suffered for it.
“We have had a couple of bad performances.
“Bottesford, we weren’t very good at all and we deserved to lose and we weren’t very good at Goole.
“The last two performances have been really good so hopefully we can kick on because we have a tough run of games coming up.
“I said to my lads that we have had our dip and some are having theirs now.
“Some haven’t but it will happen to everyone at some point.
“I have the same squad with a couple of additions that I had when we were doing really well at the start of the season.
“I think we need to get a run together and we have proved we can with the last two performances.
“We need to be a bit more clinical but I think we can be in and around the top five or six.”