Autumn falls...

The last couple of weeks have seen a dramatic fall in temperature as we head into October, but this has been offset by a dramatic increase in our lead at the top of the table. After our recent victories over the Shire, Berwick and Albion Rovers there is now a five-point gap between ourselves and our nearest challengers. My last few weekends have been spent househunting in London, but thanks to the ever-efficient service of ShireTV I have at least seen a few minutes of the Warriors in action: the highlights of our derby victory were undeniably pleasing on the eye, and the same high standards have, by all accounts, been maintained in subsequent matches. In the midst of all this, Kevin Motion seems to have been doing especially well in recent weeks, both individually and as a valued team player. Against the Shire, for example, he scored both goals, but was also involved in a lovely move which created an opening for Alan Brazil. Another great source of strength in our current line-up is, of course, our central defence. Jordan Smith had an excellent start to the season prior to his injury, and I have heard nothing but praise for the performance of Gary Thom, who stood in for him against Albion Rovers. John Ovenstone, meanwhile, has excelled himself not only by having a bizarre nickname (Zanussi Washing Machine or something?), but by providing ShireTV with it's most amusing piece of footage yet. Their attempt to 'prove' that John had handled the ball on our goal line consisted of: (a) having the *impartial* commentator insist as much, and persist in doing so; (b) having a sufficiently bad camera angle that no viewer could possibly dare to disagree. Forgive me if I prefer to trust the referee on this occasion. In general, though, the basis for our good form has been teamwork. Once again, the Shire game is a good example. Players from all positions made valuable contributions to attacking moves: from the midfield, Brand fashioned a decent chance for himself through sheer perseverance, whilst Thomson's through ball for Motion's second goal was a joy to behold. Even the defenders play their part: both Ovenstone's long throws and Lyle's crosses have added spice to our attack this season. As I write this, we're 25 minutes into our game against Forfar and the scores are tied at 0-0. Despite Sky Sports' mistaken belief that we've got someone called Craig Rankin in goals, I see no reason why we won't be celebrating again come 4:45.