A 2-0 home triumph against Thornbury Town - Royal Wootton Bassett Town's fourth straight league win - saw Sam Collier's side reach the heady heights of second place in the Hellenic League Premier Division.
The season may still be in its embryonic stages, but the omens are so far proving very good for Bassett, who have now recorded 14 points from their opening seven league fixtures. Indeed, that points haul represents Bassett's best start to a Hellenic Premier campaign after seven matches.
The coming weeks are set to be a big test of Bassett's credentials though. The team's next three league fixtures pit them against sides - Brimscombe and Thrupp, Bishop's Cleeve and Bradford Town - who can all leapfrog Bassett if they win the games in hand which they possess. They then finish September with a visit to Roman Glass St George - who inflicted Bassett's sole league defeat so far.
But having points on the board ahead of such a tough run of games is an ideal position to be in. And the pressure will be on those teams to claim a result that will taken them back above Bassett and give them hope of staying in touch with current pacesetters Cribbs.
Bassett's latest triumph - their second against Thornbury so far this season after a 4-0 victory in the Emirates FA Cup - was a relatively comfortable one.
It was sealed courtesy of Alan Griffin's brace, with the in-form forward netting for the fifth consecutive game.
His first came from the penalty spot six minutes before half time as he coolly tucked the ball away into the bottom left corner, out of reach of Thornbury 'keeper Kurtis Parkin who did manage to guess correctly.
Griffin's second arrived a matter of minutes later. Having rattled the crossbar, he spun and finished decisively to give his side a commanding half time lead that they would not relinquish.
It may still be very early in the season. But a fourth straight win, another clean sheet and a record start all offer reasons for optimism.
The test now is to keep that streak going.
Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Monday 6th September 2021 at 08:48
