Things are looking up

I had a poor start to my sporting year. With the disappearance of Bello in a tantrum about things said about him on the fans' form (you would think he heard worse in his day job as a police sergeant) Leamington seemed to have difficulty in finding the back of the net. But they have now had two successive away wins, 3-0 away against Halesowen with 10 men for most of the match on Saturday and 2-0 away at Bedford on Tuesday night.

After winning the Elite League last season, Coventry Blaze experienced a run of defeats. But they recovered at the weekend with a 9-2 demolition of new boys Dundee Star and a 5-1 cup win over the Steelers and last night at the Skydome they beat Edinburgh Capitals 6-3. Eleven fanatical away fans faced a long trip back to Scotland.

Above all, things are looking up at Charlton. Our 1-0 win over MK Dons was hardly emphatic, but we kept a clean sheet. Those who were there agreed that Jon Fortune made an encouraging return to the defence, while despite the occasional fumble, Ross Worner looks like a promising young keeper.

One must be careful about reading results off the table or even the form table. But we can go into Saturday's match at Brentford in a reasonably confident mood. No team is dominating the division, least of all Southampton who were tipped to run away with the title. Our local Saint tells me they are playing off teams off the park which perhaps explains the point gained at mighty Yeovil.

Our current position in 7th place is a promising one at this time of the season and we just need to build on what we are starting to achieve. Questions remain about the midfield, but whether it is a lack of creativity or too much lumping the ball forward from defence is an interesting question.