That’s how the inaugural National League campaign feels. It seems like only yesterday that the competition, which replaced the National Conference League in what were undoubtedly controversial circumstances, was ‘testing its toes’ in the water. And yet, here we are with National Conference League play-offs involving Cumbria, the North West and Yorkshire (and possibly the South) on the near horizon. I think the word indicates that the clubs involved meet the minimum standards criteria that used to apply to teams in the now-wound up National Conference League. My understanding is that few National Conference South teams will therefore be allowed at the starting line, although we’ll have to see about that.