IT was mixed fortunes over the Bank Holiday weekend with victory against our bogey side Bath and an unlucky defeat at Hednesford.

I had a feeling we would beat Bath and it was a better display with the players doing things that matter in the game such as closing the opposition down quickly, winning second balls and playing with more conviction.

We had not been doing that of late but there was a marked improvement in that aspect of the game, helped immeasurably by the presence of John Snape.

He has been tremendous and his influence is there for all to see as it was at Hednesford where the likes of he, Carl Heeley and Paul Carty stood up to be counted when it mattered.

It was a difficult match at Keys Park and I thought a draw would have been a fair result but I cannot fault the players for commitment there.

Three of the youngsters - Richard Tomkins, Dean Smith and Dan Parker - got thrown in at the deep end and emerged with credit. I'm wary of hyping them too much but collectively it was a decent display and that was encouraging.

I would have liked to have seen Liam McDonald as well, who has caught the eye while training with us in recent weeks, but unfortunately he is suspended due to a sending off he received while playing for Worcestershire.

What rankles is that in the five weeks he is banned he will miss 16 matches, at various levels, that he could have played in.

As a club we've always supported the County Association in providing players but there is a fine line between supporting them and supporting ourselves and I will be reviewing the level of our support to the WFA in light of this ban.

I'm not condoning behaviour that leads to a player being sent off but the harshness of that suspension far outweighs the offence.

After Saturday's clash with Bath I referred to the poor state of the pitch and it's something we have to address as a club.

I know we have a problem of getting additional water outside of rainfall and it's been particularly dry, not to mention the sheer number of games played on it, but despite that I feel the surface is not good enough for this time of year.

At present we are talking to some attractive Football League opposition as part of arranging a pre-season programme but the pitch needs to be of sufficient quality. They would expect it and I expect it!

Professional clubs for the last few years have known with a fair degree of certainty that the state of the St George's Lane pitch is in accordance with what they are looking for but reputations that take years to build up can quickly be destroyed.

As a manager I'm not happy with it. I haven't asked for too many things at this club but I want a good pitch.

I know a lot of non-league clubs have similar problems, and the task may not be easy, but we have to find a way round it and quick because as it stands it could end up being our biggest investment in the summer.

Saturday against Grantham is our final home game of the season and with two matches to go I would love to finish with six points though the way the players are dropping like flies at the moment we may well be better suited to five-a-side when we reach the Dover game.