22/11/01: ANOTHER blank weekend has left us very frustrated. For the third Saturday this year we had no fixture.

Although have been reasons for it, FA Cup and FA Vase, what has disappointed me has been the attitude of some other clubs who have had no game either.

We are always keen to get a game in on a Saturday but sadly, for whatever reason, other sides are not. Our secretary has rung around every club who have not had a game and nobody has fancied it. To me this is madness, because the same clubs will be moaning and groaning later on in the season if and when there is a backlog of fixtures.

We went to leaders Brislington (in a re-arranged game) and acquitted ourselves quite well, albeit in a 2-1 defeat. Brislington have assembled a very good outfit and deserved to win, but it was a game we can take confidence from

The first half was a little one-sided and we gave away a stupid penalty to go in 1-0 down. The second half was altogether a different affair with us coming much more into the game and indeed we could have snatched a late equaliser. On the night though Bris were worthy winners and will finish in the top three alongside Taunton and Bideford.

In the Dr Martens League congratulations must go to Chippenham Town manager Tommy Saunders and his men for going top for the first time this season. Although the game was very close by all accounts, their win over Bilston must have been very satisfying.

I've talked in earlier columns how money talks in football, but it's not just how much you throw at it. You must spend wisely to create a good side and also make sure things keep pace on and off the pitch. Chippenham have done this brilliantly. Success on the pitch has been matched off it. The facilities there are now superb, but still they plan to improve and that is good to see. Now they are top it will be interesting to see if Tom goes for a couple of high profile signings which might just cement their place up there. It's still early days but to be top of the pile after 17 games is no mean achievement.

Melksham Town too showed how far they have come by being beaten only narrowly by champions Taunton. I understand it was a very tight affair with just a good finish by Ellis Laight the difference between the two sides.

One of the consequences of having a good cup run is falling behind in your games and even after having a good run Melksham still find themselves sixth off the bottom, although this is clearly a false position.

The First Division looks tighter by the week. The top two, Torrington and Bath City Reserves, fought out a draw. My fancy, Frome Town, had an excellent 5-1 win over Hallen and are gradually hauling themselves into a good challenging position. All three Wiltshire sides failed, Corsham coming back down to earth with a bump with a 2-1 home reverse against Shepton Mallet.

Calne Town and Warminster showed up dismally, with Calne crashing 6-0 against Exmouth and Warminster getting overwhelmed 8-0 away to Street.

A cruel game football: Salisbury losing out to a last gasp winner in their derby against Bath City. With Devizes lad James Bittner and new signing Ryan King, signed from Backwell, playing, they narrowly lost out to vastly improving Bath.

I've noticed over the last few weeks the Screwfix Premier Division has lost some quality strikers from its ranks. I've been saying for ages the difference between the Premier and First divisions is how much better the strikers are. In the First your defenders can make a mistake and get away with it, not in the Premier. It started pre-season with Taunton losing their ace marksman Anthony Lynch to Tiverton.

Adam Stansfield, who is quality, recently joined Yeovil from Elmore, Dave Morrisey has joined Clevedon from Brislington and last week Ryan King left Backwell to join struggling Wiltshire outfit Salisbury. Although excellent moves for the players concerned, the Western League suffers a little as some of its better players move on.