Given that September's fixtures looked easier on paper than August, hopes were reasonably high of a few wins to take us up the table, but it was not to be. First on the agenda was table-topping Barnsley with Chairman-in-waiting, Peter Ridsdale, buoying up the sizeable Tyke contingent. The Reds looked very confident and early on they got the boost they wanted when Carl Muggleton made a bad error, dropping a cross under pressure from Gorre leaving Kay an easy chance. Many referees would have awarded us a free kick, but having turned down a penalty appeal for a handball by Uhlenbeek in the second minute, this ref was not sympathetic. Town fought back with Reeves heading over a left wing cross and Folan heading straight at Illic when well placed. 

Half time came with us trailing 1-0, but well in the game. Hudson should have equalised when a poor clearance found him on the edge of the box, but his fierce drive was inches wide. Barnsley came back with confidence and looked strong and their second goal killed us off. A left wing corner to the edge of the area was powerfully headed home, unchallenged and Allott, on the line, kicked under the ball. Our heads dropped after this and even Kay's late dismissal for an altercation with Uhlenbeek did nothing to dampen the joy of the South Yorkshire fans sampling a rare win in North Derbyshire.

A week later we faced Billy Dearden's magpies, bottom of the table and, like us, seeking a first win. Town included on-loan Mark De Bolla from Charlton and he looked a lively customer. The Pies started the game the more lively with Caskey influential and the hard-running Platt a handful. Town came back with several forays and a fine turn and shot by De Bolla was well saved. After the break, we soon conceded. Hudson lost the ball in midfield and Stallard on the right fed a fine low ball into the box for Bolland to side-foot in.

After this we never looked like recovering. The heads dropped and the senior players did nothing to lift them. Further misery was added when de Bolla turned sharply in the Notts box and went down in agony, to be stretchered off with a serious injury and never seen again. Two late crosses which didn't quite reach waiting heads were the best we could muster and the Pies survived for their first win of the campaign leaving us rock bottom.

We needed a swift game after this and were fortunate that we had the Tuesday trip to Brighton to look forward to. Unsurprisingly, there were few Town supporters in evidence, but of those there, too many had sampled the local ales and became very boring. The "gay" quips might have been vaguely amusing the first time, but after 70 minutes they became very tedious indeed. On the field, Town started brightly with Brandon causing the home defence many problems. Payne's 20-yard free kick beat the wall, but not the youthful debutant keeper. Again, however, we lacked confidence and a cutting edge around goal and were made to pay after the half-hour. A long ball upfield looked easy for Kevin Dawson who went up to control the ball with his head, but them simply fell over as he was about to control the ball. In stepped Leon Knight to capitalise for Brighton's only real chance of the game.

The second half saw more of the home side as an attacking force but they rarely looked like adding to their lead. We huffed and puffed but looked dangerous in only the last 10 minutes, but we could sense that there was no belief in our ability to equalise. The nearest we came was a Hudson volley which hit the side netting and we'd lost again when we'd deserved a point.

Efforts at plugging the striker problem secured the services of Marvin Robinson formerly of Derby for a fortnight and he was on the bench for the visit to Cleethorpes, where our recent record was very good. Stuart Howson made a welcome return to the fold after a lengthy absence and Gareth Davies was included in the starting line-up for the first time this season. He failed to cover himself in glory, however, with a piece of brainless unprofessionalism copied from Messrs Brandon and Blatherwick last season. After 10 minutes, Grimsby were awarded a free kick about 30 yards from goal and the ball trickled to Davies. For no apparent reason he hoofed the ball away, was rightly booked and the free kick was advanced 10 yards. The wall did its job, but the scene was set for an absolutely shambolic performance. But for 3 excellent saves by Muggleton we would have gone in at the break more than 1 down and the Mariners were running our defence ragged. Payne and Blatherwick were all over the place and the half time whistle was welcome indeed. Our luck on the injuries front continued with Caleb Folan (idiotically announced by the Grimsby tannoy man as "Selleb Fellann") had his ankle broken in a collision with the home keeper in a rare attack just before the interval.

The second half got worse after an encouraging start. We were taking the game to Grimsby for the first 10 minutes, but were soon undone. Gus Uhlenbeek played a poor ball from the back straight to a home midfielder who fed the ball wide. The winger skinned Gus, who evidently annoyed with himself dragged his opponent to the ground. Then, with utter brainlessness he disputed the call and manhandled the referee for a deserved red card. How anyone of his experience and ability can behave in such an unprofessional manner is beyond me. Maybe it's just the typical Dutch footballing prima donna behaviour we expect from their national side manifesting itself at a lower level.

Anyway, we had no chance with 10 men and the Mariners ran in 3 more (the fourth being particularly poxy with a massive deflection) to inflict our first defeat there since March '76. It was also our first defeat in white for 7 games; the last being at Oxford in 1999-2000. It was a thoroughly miserable day with the only highlight being a fly past by a Wellington bomber just before kick-off.

In an effort to stop the goalscoring rot, Roy McFarland obtained the services of the young Middlesbrough forward Jamie Cade in time for the next game, Brentford at Saltergate. After last season against the cynical Bees, who left us with 9 men to finish both games, we really needed to beat them. Again, early signs were encouraging with 3 saves in quick succession by the visiting keeper. Cade was looking very lively and we had a more confident air about us. We needed, however, to take the lead, but half time came with no score.

In the second half, we looked less positive and, after losing the ball in midfield, we were punished by a brilliant 30-yarder by Stephen Hunt with some ineffective attempts at tackles on the way. Amazingly, however, we fought back and Sonko, under pressure from Evatt handled in the box and we were awarded a penalty. The pressure was on Steve Payne, who did a captain's job and scored with aplomb. The ref wasn't happy, however, and he had to take it again. Again, he planted the ball firmly in the net, but the ref still wasn't happy. It seemed as if no-one wanted us to end the drought. Payne's assured third effort did count though and surely we would go on to win now!

No, we didn't as 8 minutes from the end, Brentford fashioned a well-executed goal from a right wing cross and we'd blown it once more. The scorer, Tommy Wright, was deservedly dismissed for inflicting this misery on us (over-celebration actually) but we'd now lost six on the trot, our worst run since 1988-89, when we did seven.

The final trial of the month was Bournemouth to attempt to kick-start our season. They looked positive early on, but so did we and, for only the second time this season, we took the lead when Robinson got on the end of Cade's through ball to loft it over Neil Moss for an excellent goal. We needed a second, however, to give us some comfort, but Robinson wasted 2 openings after the break and Brandon was unlucky with an effort inches over. Payne's 20-yard free kick went close, but the elusive second did not arrive.

We conceded midfield more and more as the game wore on and the Cherries forced a wave of corners. With only 10 minutes to play they duly equalised when Blatherwick and Davies failed to cut out a right wing cross and the ever-dangerous Steve Fletcher rifled in the loose ball.  At least we got a point to stop the rot, but it was deeply frustrating.

So, in conclusion, we obtained 1 point and 2 goals from 6 games-utterly abysmal. We have experience players not helping youngsters, our finishing is woeful and we have a mis-match of a squad-too many central defenders and no fullbacks together with no ball-winner in midfield. Ian Evatt has been awful and Mark Hudson appears to have wilted under the pressure. He's too good a player to continue in this vein, but it is desperately worrying. I can't imagine where a win is coming from - we look like we could get fewer than Rochdale's record in 73-74 of just two. Added to all these woes, we've no money, injuries galore and fans voicing suspicions that at least 2 of the injured players are in no desperate hurry to be part of the battle.

It's difficult to see any positives, but the support has been remarkably patient. The manager appears to be making the right moves in the main and we do have some decent players. O'Hare is looking a real find in particular, but we need wins, points, fit players, money and all those other good things that many footy fans take for granted. Please-something go right in October!