With the dropped points against Westfield last weekend looking decisive in some fans' eyes, in regard to our chances of making the end of season party, i've decided to analyse the remaining fixtures of all those still involved in the chase, mainly to try and convince myself that we can still be in the mix; while i do agree that our abundance of single-pointers, particularly at home, in the last few months have all but put paid to our chances, I have managed to raise my optimism a little bit now that i have seen how many key fixtures (IE - games against each other) our rivals have to play.

I have included the top 8 as those teams still in with a chance, Waltham Abbey may be pushing it a bit - particularly when you look at their position in the form table - but i like even numbers, and given they were the early season pace-setters, have included them above the cut-off point. i suspect their fans will consider themselves just about still in the chase.

So, with both games last night (Molesey v. Marlow & Bracknell v. Egham) falling victim to the weather, here is the state of play going into the crucial end of season run :

                                                       P       W       D       L       F       A       Pts       GD
1. Hayes & Yeading Utd.               30      23       4       3      109    73       73        +81
2. Bracknell Town                          29      17       8       4        82    39       59        +43
3. Marlow                                      29       17       7       5        51    22       58        +29
4. Cheshunt                                  30        16      8       6        56    37       56        +19
5. Westfield                                   30        16       6       8        58    42      54        +16
6. Ware                                         30        13       9       8        68    45      48        +23
7. T&MUFC                                  29         13      9       7        52    41      48         +11
8. Waltham Abbey                        30         15      1      14       49    49      46           -

And here is the current form guide for the whole division, over the last 6 matches :

                                                      P       W       D       L       F       A       Pts       GD
1. Bracknell Town                          6        5        0       1      19      4         15        +15
2. Hayes & Yeading Utd.               6        4        1       1      14      3         13        +11
3. Marlow                                      6         4        1       1      11      3         13         +8
4. Northwood                                6         4        1       1      17     10        13         +7
5. Cheshunt                                  6         4        0       2        9       8        12         +1
6. Ware                                         6         3        2       1       15      6        11         +9
7. Westfield                                   6         3        2       1        9       7        11         +2
8. Hanwell Town                           6         3         1       2      16     12        10        +4
9. T&MUFC                                  6         2         4       0        8       6        10         +2
10.Chipstead                                6         3         1       2        7       8        10         -1
11.Molesey                                   6         3         1       2        8     10        10        -2
12.Bedfont Sports                        6         2         2        2       18    13         8         +5
13.Chalfont St. Peter                   6         2         1        3        10    11         7         -1
14.FC Romania                           6         2         1         3        9     10         7         -1
15.Ashford Town                         6          2         1        3        6       8         7         -2
16.Waltham Abbey                     6          2          0        4       11     16        6        -5
17.Uxbridge                                6         1          1        4         5      17        4       -12
18.Egham Town                          6         0          2        4         4      13        2        -9
19.Hertford Town                        6          0          1       5          5     13        1        -8
20.South Park                             6          0          1       5         4      19        1      -15

So, on the face of it, our position doesn't look too clever as we only just squeeze into the top half on current form. The fact that we are the only unbeaten team in that table is unfortunately largely irrelevant given the number of drawn games, but looking at our remaining fixtures, and comparing them to those around us, there is still hope. Our next 2 fixtures are both massive : Bracknell (away) & Cheshunt (home). Bracknell top the form table, but interestingly, the one defeat they've suffered was in their last match, and a little bit of a surprise one as they did have the lead at the break at Hanwell, but eventually succumbed to 2 second half strikes. That, and our recent away form (W 4 D 2), should give us some hope going into Saturday. I should also point out that Bracknell are unbeaten at home this season, but Hayes & Yeading were 100% at home until last weekend when they went down to 10-man Marlow. It's the time of the season when strange things can happen...

If we can get out of Bracknell with something, ideally 3pts, that will give us real confidence going into the Cheshunt home match. Cheshunt's recent away form is mixed; they did win at Chipstead & Chalfont St. Peter, but got stuffed at Marlow (0-4) & went down narrowly (0-1) at Hayes. 

After those 2 fixtures, if things have gone well, our run-in looks very straightforward indeed. 7 matches against (with the exception of currently 10th placed Ashford) teams in the lower reaches of the table, including a double-header with Molesey (!). 

Meanwhile, all those teams around us face matches against each other : I have listed the fixtures below. 5 of Bracknell's remaining 10 matches are key, with most of our other rivals facing at least 3 key matches - the exceptions being ourselves (2 key, our next 2 matches), and Cheshunt (also 2 key, including that one against ourselves). 

Of course, if we go to Bracknell on Saturday & lose, that's pretty much it for us, rendering most of our remaining fixtures irrelevant, (and the lunch hour i've just spent coming up with all this stuff a complete waste of time), but i prefer to believe we can keep our hopes alive, take each match as it comes, and squeeze into the frame when it matters most. 

The remaining matches are (key fixtures in red, home matches denoted in capitals) :

BRACKNELL TOWN
16.3     TOOTING & MITCHAM UNITED
23.3     Hayes & Yeading United
30.3     Marlow
06.4     WARE
13.4     Northwood
20.4     CHIPSTEAD
22.4     Westfield
27.4     Ashford Town 
(TBA     Egham Town)

MARLOW
16.3     ASHFORD TOWN 
23.3     Hertford Town
30.3     BRACKNELL TOWN
06.4     Waltham Abbey
13.4     FC Romania
20.4     SOUTH PARK
22.4     Northwood
27.4     WARE
(TBA    Molesey)

CHESHUNT
16.3     EGHAM TOWN
23.3     Tooting & Mitcham United
30.3     Bedfont Sports
06.4     UXBRIDGE
13.4     South Park
20.4     NORTHWOOD
22.4     Hertford Town
27.4     WESTFIELD

WESTFIELD
16.3     HERTFORD TOWN
23.3     Bedfont Sports
30.3     HANWELL TOWN
06.4     South Park
13.4     MOLESEY
20.4     Waltham Abbey
22.4     BRACKNELL TOWN
27.4     Cheshunt

WARE
16.3     FC ROMANIA
23.3     Chipstead
30.3     CHALFONT ST. PETER
06.4     Bracknell Town
13.4     UXBRIDGE
20.4     Bedfont Sports
22.4     WALTHAM ABBEY
27.4     Marlow

TOOTING & MITCHAM UNITED
16.3     Bracknell Town
23.3     CHESHUNT
30.3     Uxbridge
06.4     MOLESEY
13.4     Ashford Town
20.4     CHALFONT ST. PETER
22.4     South Park
27.4     FC ROMANIA
(TBA    Molesey)

WALTHAM ABBEY
16.3     BEDFONT SPORTS
23.3     FC Romania
30.3     Molesey
06.4     MARLOW
13.4     Hayes & Yeading United
20.4     WESTFIELD
22.4     Ware
27.4     SOUTH PARK