Welcome to everyone from Bolehall Swifts for this afternoons early season fixture. We are both 'smarting' from 3-0 midweek home results and be equally keen to make a swift recovery from the losses.

Tuesday's result against Romulus was disappointing as we opened the match quite brightly and for 15-20 minutes probably had the better of the play. The turning point was probably the glaring miss by Mike Mason after about 20 minutes. Goals change matches and from that point onwards Romulus grew in confidence and once they edged ahead following a poor defensive lapse they always had the better of things.

Having said that we missed another couple of early chances in the second half and it was not until we conceded a second goal with another very poor defensive mistake with 20 minutes remaining that they took total control. They added a third before the finish and thoroughly deserved their victory. They will quite clearly be one of the teams 'in the mix' at the end of the season. One bonus was the encouraging debut appearance of Richard Frost when he came off the subs bench for the second half. He has already shown his ability to dominate in the air and has a surprising turn of pace for a big lad.

We have still had a decent start and a test of our character will be how we respond today, because if we are to challenge for honours this season, it will be our ability to bounce back strongly from our disappointments that will determine any opportunities for success.

The injury news is mixed. Paul Probert's rib injury is better than first thought and has been diagnosed as badly bruised ribs that will keep him out for about another 7-10 days. Mark Langley has damaged medial ligaments and the full extent of the injury is not likely to be known for some days yet. It was hoped that Paul Webb would make his first appearance of the season this afternoon but his damaged hamstring is taking longer to heal than we would both wish and he is now hoping to be playing either next Tuesday or Saturday. Dave Blake is making a slower than expected recovery from his groin strain and we have no imminent date for a return. There are some doubts over Mark Bellingham's fitness for today. Quite a number of lads are unavailable for today due to having to perform duty at football matches.

A special mention to the lads in the Reserve Team who maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 2-2 draw away to Cadbury Athletic Reserves last Thursday.

We hope you enjoy the game and can make it to support us at some of our forthcoming away matches.