A desperate weekend of football left me scouring the small print of the detailed football results in a determined effort to discover any small mercies that may have been on offer.

I suppose it all began on Friday evening when AFC Wimbledon played away in a televised FA Cup fixture at lowly Haringey Borough.   The attraction of watching this game on BBC 2 was the inclusion of our street`s local hero Scott ("Buzzin` six-pack pacy flanker") Wagstaff in the Dons` starting line-up.  In the end, Wimbledon scraped home 1-0 in a dour encounter but we were disappointed to see Waggy withdrawn after 67 minutes presumably as a precaution following a stiff challenge from a particularly determined Haringey defender.  We hope he will be fit to resume his place at Doncaster Rovers` Keepmoat Stadium this coming Saturday.

On to the events of Saturday just gone and my beloved Saints seem to go from bad to worse.  They managed a 1-1 draw against Watford at St.Mary`s but the fact remains that they have secured just one home win in the whole of this calendar year - and as there are no more home matches this year that record will certainly stay in place. 

It really is very depressing and with the sacking last week of Vice-Chairman of Football, Les Read and Technical Director Martin Hunter we seem to be left with a Canadian Chairman steeped in ice hockey, a Chinese owner no-one ever sees or hears from and a manager in Mark Hughes who is hanging on by his finger tips. There may be even more trouble ahead.

And so to my quest for small mercies.  And they came in threes.  First, local Kent team Maidstone United progressed to the second round of the FA Cup by beating Macclesfield 2-1, rekindling memories of when I used to take my sons to watch `the Stones` all those years ago when Roy Hodgson was playing left back;  Truro City  managed a much needed 3-2 win over Dulwich Hamlet to drag themselves out of the relegation zone in National League South.

But pride of place must go to my newfound Caledonian heroes from Fort William who went down to yet another gallant defeat, this time 13-0 away at high flying Fraserburgh in the Highland League.  This brings their goals against tally to 131 and a goal difference of minus 118 in the 18 matches played so far this season.   And I think I`ve got problems as a Saints fan?