Worthing 2 - 0 Chatham

Again, an away match, and I didn't go. No report on the official site yet (actually, no reports for our last two games on the official site yet - apparently all roads end at Horsham YMCA), and no report yet on the Worthing site, but we were beaten two goals to nil where the road meets the sea, and now find ourselves back in the familiar mid table mediocrity to which we have been accustomed over the years, in thirteenth place on seven points.

The new Ryman Leage website will feature a team list at some point, and it will be interesting to see. The Worthing forum, whilst not critical of us, seems confused by our lack of firepower. Perhaps a bad day at the office for the lads, but the suggestion that we did not force one save from Worthing's keeper sounds worrying. We did apparently make a good fist of making a match of it for the first twenty minutes, but then switched off, making a boring encounter for all.

Their goals were - according to the wonders of second hand knowledge, in turn, a screamer, and a howler, where our defence ball watched until such point it crossed the line. Such imagery makes me think of Matchday 2 on the Spectrum or C64 back in the day - I can see various Chats players running in the wrong direction and doing that strange thing the sprites did on said computer game when confronted with another sprite - to just keep moving backward and forward. Anyway, that's by the by really. We were beaten, and apparently didn't turn up. It'll be interesting to see Don Logan's opinion if that is indeed the case, because he has previously stated in programme notes that he doesn't do players that only turn up for the big games. Money and mouth time perhaps, particularly given next weeks big stakes FA Cup 1st Qualifying round tie with Walton Hop Casuals. A win could potentially set us up with a lucrative tie against Conference South opposition, but we have a strange record against Walton Casuals over recent seasons, having taken it in turns to hand out 4-0 drubbings to each other on both of their last two visits to the Theatre of Slapstick Comedy. I can't help but think given the hard work we made of lower league opponents Eastbourne United over two matches in the last week, that we (1) need a rest, and a week until the next game is a good thing and (2) we need to pick things up a gear. Has the victory over Croydon got to our heads? Are all the pre-season expectations and hype (which I have happily gone along with myself, rather guiltily) done for us? Let us not forget, if it were not for two injury time winners, we would now be 19th in the league...

Come on Chatham - stop pratting about at the back of the class. You may be a gifted child, but the silliness is doing you no favours. Start working please.