A cat called Gareth.

Since we were last here we've had a few ups and downs, mainly downs unfortunately.

The trip to Bromley for the match against Cray Wanderers wasn't quite what you may have read elsewhere. There was little sign of any ambition to win on the night, although we did have the odd chance to nick something from the game. Mainly it was about 2 rows of 4, staying fairly close and frustrating what looked like a talented Cray side.

There was a lot of defensive discipline on show though and that's why we left the ground in a fairly upbeat mood after a 1-0 defeat.

Very nice clubhouse at Bromley, complete with its own cat. Gareth is his name. Like GFC at the ARS, Cray make absolutely sweet fa from it but they are hopeful of a home of their own at some point. Plans are at an advanced stage but stuck in the mire of endless referrals to this, that and the other.

Upbeat thoughts soon took a nosedive with a disappointing home draw against Godalming Town. The real downer was the double leg break suffered by Chris Tardif. 1F is always worth a good few points over a season so this is a real blow to hopes of maintaining Step 4 status, particularly given the seemingly never ending problem of getting a full squad out for matches.

It got worse still a few days later with Jack Domaille suffering knee ligament damage that will keep him out for a prolonged period.

Fingers crossed for a reasonably trouble free recovery for both players.

The gloom was lifted slightly with a somewhat rare 3 points against Sittingbourne last weekend, this despite a degree of profligacy in front of goal that, if we're not careful, could become as worrying as our frailty at the other end.

Good to hear there was decent support from the Garenne, us Manelanders need to pull our socks up in that respect when we go to Whyteleafe on Saturday.

Tomorrow it's Chipstead at the ARS, another must win. So get your arse to the ARS and sing yer 'earts out for the lads. OK, you won't be able to talk on Thursday nut, between you and me, your work colleagues don't really want small talk with you so it'll save embarrassment all round.

With new kit recently arrived at Ormering Towers hopefully these ramblings will start to become a little more frequent than they have been of late. There are a few things to be said after all.

Keep it green (and keep the faith).

Allez les Verts!!