IT'S JUST NOT RIGHT

Newport 0 Yeltz 0

I suppose a lot of Welshmen like to watch the egg-chasing, but it still seems a bit bizarre kicking off at 12.15.

It must have been a bit strange for the players too, but the mighty Yeltz extended their unbeaten run with a creditable 0-0 draw with high-flying Newport . They've climbed up to second-place, and we've snuck into the top half of the table into 11th place .

Elsewhere, DML teams had a pretty good day in the FA Cup 1st Round (remember that?!), with Ilkeston recovering from the stuffing we gave them to beat Carlisle 2-1, and Tamworth twice coming from behind to earn a draw against Bury.

I'm hoping to make a few improvements to the site this week , so if things go a bit pear-shaped at times you'll know who to blame.

CLINTON PAIR LEADS YELTZ TO VICTORY

Yeltz 3 Ilkeston 0

My my! Things are looking better. A quick glance to your right and you'll see we've won the last three games . Hurrah!

After a shaky start, Clinton Thomas has now started to find the back of the net, and goals in the 31st and 66th minutes set The Yeltz on their way against an in-form Ilkeston (they'd beaten Salisbury 6-0 on Saturday). A late third from Darren Wright capped what was probably the best result so far this season. They had a man sent off and arrived late because their coach broke down, but it's about time we had a bit of luck.

We're off to Wales on Saturday when we visit Newport - don't forget that it's an early kick-off (12.15 I think) presumably because of the Rugby World Cup.

YELTZ GAIN FROM PAYNE

Halesowen 1 Crawley 0

After what feels like ages since we last played, the mighty Yeltz won their second game on the trot with a 1-0 victory against struggling Crawley . However, only a late goal from on-loan Stuart Payne gave all three points against a team that had only had two draws so far this season.

According to the Halesowen News website we're looking to extend Mr. Payne's loan period as, what with the long break and his injuries, we haven't had him for many games. Anyway, he's got another chance to score on Tuesday when we meet Ilkeston at The Grove in the league.

We've now snuck up to 13th place in the league now and to be honest we're not that far off the top and the bottom.

SOME GOOD NEWS AT LAST

FAT Bromsgrove 2 Yeltz 5

A first Trophy victory for 4 years and a little gloom has been lifted. An emphatic 5-2 victory over struggling Bromsgrove and at least we have something positive to look forward to for the rest of the season. Scorers were Crispy , Clinton Thomas (2) , one from Lyndon Rowlands and an own goal .

We're not playing for a couple of weeks, so maybe it'll give us chance to recharge our batteries, sort out a few injuries and start climbing back up the table.

LATE NEWS: We've been drawn at home to Sutton Coldfield in the next round of the FA Trophy - the match will take place on November 27. Not a bad draw at all.

A TEAM FIGHTBACK

Dorchester 2 Yeltz 2

After the last few results and given a half-time score of 2-0 down , spirits were about as low as they've ever been. However, something remarkable happened. Second half goals from Darren Wright and on-loan Stuart Payne meant we came away from Dorchester's super-stadium with an encouraging point.

We're still struggling in the table having played more games than everyone else now, but they way things have been going I'm sure we'd all have settled for a point before the game.

Bath beat Farnborough in their FA Cup game, so our game on the 16th will be postponed . We're on FA Trophy duty at Bromsgrove next week. Fingers crossed.

VERY POOR

Yeltz 0 Margate 3

I can't remember if I've ever felt so downbeat about our prospects for the rest of the season. For as long as I've supported the Yeltz (over 17 years now) we've always had a pretty good side with the potential to win things. I have no confidence at all that the next 7 months aren't going to be one long relegation battle .

I hoped that last week's FA Cup debacle would be the turning point, but unfortunately it's got worse . A spineless 3-0 defeat at home to Margate . After the win at Atherstone and creditable draw with Boston, we've slipped back again to our early season form. Come on.

On a (slightly) brighter note, Catalogue Man Paul Harding has finally signed for Dulwich Hamlet after being on loan there for a while. Good riddance. Also, I believe we've got a match next weekend against Dorchester , rearranaged to take advantage of our free FA Cup weekend.

IT WAS THE WORST

FAC2Q - Oadby 2 Yeltz 1

I usually try and make an effort to put a positive slant on things, as there's enough people around who'll moan if they get half a chance. However this time I'm really struggling.

They were rubbish. They're a West. Mids. League standard team if you can remember back to those days, and in the first half we outclassed them, leading 1-0 at the break with a nice goal from Lyndon Rowlands .

However, only one team seemed to remember it was the FA Cup in the second half. They battled and scrapped for everything and once they'd snuck an equaliser , we went completely to pieces.

Whether it was because Birchy had got injured, but no-one (on our side) seemed to have any idea about what to do, and it wasn't a great surprise when they scored the winner . It was a sort of breakaway goal, but describing it like that gives the impression that we were mounting some kind of pressure at the other end.

We were desperate for a decent cup run to spark the season into life, and now we're left feeling worse than ever. Very poor .

If you've got anything to say about all of this, I'm sure there will be much discussion this week on the Yeltz mailing list .

YELTZ FIGHT FOR A POINT

Yeltz 1 Boston 1

In a very hard fought and often violent encounter, the mighty Yeltz continued their recent improvement with a point against leaders Boston .

It was almost three points as they only equalised late on with a penalty after Danny McD had brought down one of their forwards when he was right through. We'd earlier took a deserved lead through a Crisp penalty after a blatant and stupid handball.

We played excellently in the first half with Evran Wright , back for his 12th spell at the club, missing a couple of good chances. As the game went on some fierce challenges from both sides led to some very heated debating , culminating in the ref telling Woody and their centre-forward to sort things out behind The (bike) Shed after school. What larks.

It's FA Cup time again, with next Saturday's trip to Oadby - it's a suburb of Leicester - in the 2nd Qualifying Round. We could do with a decent run.

I DON'T BELIEVE IT! 5IVE!

Atherstone 4 Yeltz 5

All very strange - a team of defenders, Andy Crannage in goal (oh yes, the 45-year-old local celebrity) but it really was Atherstone 4 Yeltz 5 .

Ross Collins played in centre-midfield and Ralphy Crisp played up front but we doubled the season's meagre goal tally in one game, the scorers being Ashley Brown (2), Crispy (2) and another from Ada Cooper .

We went behind to an early Atherstone goal, took a 3-1 lead but then conceded another before half-time. We then twice went two ahead, were twice pulled back to a single goal lead and eventually were very pleased to take all 3 points. Hu-bloody-rrah!!

FA Cup News: the 3rd Qualifying Round draw has been made, giving us the truly memorable:

REVISED: Stafford Rangers or Eastwood Town v Oadby Town or Halesowen Town

The full draw can be found on http://www.canvey.org.uk/football/1999/cups/facupQ3.htm

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY

Yeltz 1 Cambridge City 2

I'm really struggling to say something positive here and I'm not used to that. Another loss , this time to a poor Cambridge side - I have inside knowledge about them and they ARE poor - and we're hovering dangerously near the bottom with little promise of things turning around.

We actually took the lead early on through Ada Cooper's 2nd of the season - he's equal top scorer now - but they equalised before the break and got a winner 15 mins. before the end. The crowd was once again right down to the real hardcore fans - only 433 this time.

We've now travel to Atherstone on Monday , where we've done pretty well over the last few seasons. COME ON .