So after a brutal reality check in the league on Saturday against a very good Slough side, we are back to cup action this weekend in London against our National League South opponents Dulwich Hamlet. 

We could spend another large quantity of time discussing the game on Saturday against Slough however, ultimately this is the first time in the league this season that we have been truly "beaten" and when I say beaten I mean by a scoreline of more than a goal. This is to be expected at times and with the greatest of respect to all who claim this is the "worst performance" and "woeful beyond measure" I would suggest you look at some other results in the league, some of the other teams that have been destroyed on the scoreline and it will show you what a tough league this is. 

On the subject of tough. Dulwich! A team that to this point have under performed in the league but proved how destructive they can be at times going on the road to Southern England in the FA Cup and dispatching of former Conference South side Bognor Regis 6-1 and our National League South pre-season champions elect Havant & Waterlooville 2-1. Dulwich were the BBC choice for Live Coverage in Round 1 and were beaten convincingly by Carlisle 4-1 at Champion Hill however, displayed some good movement of the football and physicality in their ranks that we have become accustomed to in the last season and a half that Dulwich have been an opponent. 

Dulwich do not come into the fixture on a strong run of form, lying beneath Chippenham in the league down in 19th place and having to go all the way back to August on Matchday 6 for a win in the league and that came against Eastbourne Borough. In the cup however, they have been a different beast and we will need to be at our very best in order to take something from this Buildbase FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round fixture. 

Chippenham team news ahead of the game against Dulwich will be difficult to bring as we have training Tuesday and Thursday to assess the fitness of a few players and to give a fair reflection of where we are at. Nat Jarvis was feeling a bit of a muscle injury on Saturday and missed out with that injury, Tom Whelan was withdrawn around the halfway point due to a minor niggle and will hopefully be fit for Saturday. Hopefully nothing new materialises over the week and we can head to London with a full compliment of players to choose from. 

Dulwich themselves will be quite known to Chippenham fans and of course following the FA Cup 1st Round, anyone with a television. They are a full time, non-league team playing in the NLS, quite a rarity to have a full time side this far down the pyramid but shows the level of task we are up against. Dulwich have huge budgets due to being one of the best supported clubs at this level, with between 2000-3000+ supporters coming to games on a regular basis they are widely regarded as one of the best supported clubs in non-league football. Lots of players to watch out for this week however, I am going to highlight Dominic Vose, an attacking presence in the midfield with a wicked eye for a killer pass and not shot shy either, Vose completely ran the Dulwich attack in the FA Cup game that I was lucky enough to watch live and many concurred at the close of the game Vose did not look out of place on a pitch containing several EFL players. At only 25 years old Vose could well be another of those players that could make use of the increasing scouting networks across non league football to make his way back into the professional game. 

As many would have seen CTFC are running a Supporters Coach for this fixture, this has required some tireless work from willing volunteers and sacrifices made in order to deliver the managers wish of a larger away following for his team and has been met with tremendous response from the board of Directors who share the same vision of wanting to be able to bring more regular away travel to Chippenham supporters who may not make such fixtures without the use of such an endeavour. With this in mind the coach WILL run and will depart Chippenham at 10.30 from Bristol Road car park. We will be making a collection from a designated point at Swindon for a few fans based out of the area and then on to Champion Hill. There are still seats available and we would greatly appreciate the support. Since Saturday we have sold another 3 seats on the coach and realistically 10-15 more would be a complete success where this venture is concerned. The aim here is to create a group of people that would use this service frequently and to keep supporters integrated with the football club as we seek to grow not only our core group of fans away, but to bring more bodies to games at home. We are without a home fixture now for quite some time so I am really hoping a couple more people take advantage of this and join us away at Dulwich for this FA Trophy fixture. £15 per seat, please e-mail chippenhamtownawaytravel@outlook.com to reserve your seat and arrange payment. With a raffle on board to win back your £15 seat in CASH!! And Chippenham's merchandise team on the coach as well, it could be a good opportunity to have a good nose at the upcoming Christmas gifts for that special someone as well ;) 

Thanks all, and hope to see you at Dulwich #bluearmyontour