Firstly, apologies for the lateness of this week's column, which was due to me being away last weekend.  I have to say I was gutted when I found my weekend away co-incided with the two inter-club league games and to miss the atmosphere of six sides at home.  My sources tell me that the 4's v 5's and 7's v 8's were as feisty as any derby games with much local pride at stake, and not without moments of controversy.  Whatever the outcome, however, it must be remembered that we are all part of the same club and try and maintain the unity and spirit that has served us so well recently.

Congratulations to the 1st team who took their unbeaten run to 6 with a victory at Alexandra Park.  This makes Saturdays game against Southgate a real top of the table clash now, and both sides will I am sure be very much up for what promises to be a cracking fixture.  Words cannot say how proud I am that we are now regularly we are staging games like these, and the number of former players that are now coming to watch or taking a real interest in our results now again pays testament to the progress we have made over the last couple of seasons.

However, we do also let ourselves down occasionally, or rather we have individuals that let the club down, and this was illustrated by the non- event that was the 6th team fixture at Old Actonians where only 6 players arrived for the game.  There were some legitimate reasons why a couple of the players didn't get there, which was unfortunate, but there were players who simply let their side, the club and indeed the SAL down - the individuals concerned have been suspended from selection with immediate effect.  We have enough players in the club who are proud to wear the shirt and are fully committed to making it a great club to play for and be part of, and as I said not so long ago we really do not need people who think it ok just to turn up when they feel like it - over the past three days we have had three enquiries from potential players who have heard how good it is to play for a club like ours and wanting to get involved as soon as they can, and these are the type of players we want to join us.  On a more positive note, I would like to take this opportunity to show support to Richard and Greg, who I know did absolutely everything they could when learning of their plight to try and get a side of some sort there and they deserve our backing and support.

Finally, this weekend we welcome the annual visit from our friends from Stafford Branches, who will play two games (against our 9's on Saturday and a guest XI on Sunday).  It is always great to host this event and the games are always enjoyable and the beer afterwards more so.  So please do help make them as welcome as possible, and lets make this weekend one to remember for the right reasons!

Steve Martin-Lawrence, Chairman