Scholars now a scalp

Charlie Blakemore believes Chasetown have passed another milestone by becoming a non-League scalp.

Boss Blakemore believes the club has come on leaps and bounds in his four years in charge and the Scholars chief believes his table-topping side are now considered a scalp throughout the non-League.

Promotion, national exposure sparked by an appearance in the FA Cup first round and the play-offs have transformed the Church Street club.

The scale of Chasetown's emergence was underlined by the way opponents Aylesbury set up last Saturday in the Scholars' latest success, a 1-0 win.

"For different reasons, it was our best performance of the season," said Blakemore.

"We didn't win three or four nil but we were patient as Aylesbury set up to defend and stifle us. We kept going, got what we deserved and played well in the process.

"We have to be patient because teams are going to do that. To be fair, we've got used to it and we're able to break teams down.

"Every game teams come to try to 'do' us in terms of getting men behind the ball.

"But by the same token, no one is getting carried away. The big thing for me is everyone is keeping their feet on the ground and everyone is focusing on the next game."

Blakemore believes the club has come so far that expectations have soared unrealistically.

"Four years ago when I took over as manager, people asked me what my goals were," he said.

"I said I'd like to establish myself in the top six of the Midlands Alliance because we'd been perennial strugglers around the botton six for a few seasons.

"Now, if we lose a game, there's a big inquest. So we have to remind ourselves where we've come from.

"But in terms of teams wanting to beat us, it's a sign of progress that people see us as a scalp because we were the whipping boys for a long time.

"We've had such a run of success over the last three or four years that people's expectations are unrealistic. We're still developing as a club and we have a lot of hard work to do."

Blakemore believes keeping his players' feet on the ground is vital for their run of success to continue.

"We might be top but it means nothing," he said.

"I don't want to look at the league table or the pattern of results until Christmas.

"If we're top at Christmas then great, but no one will have won anything by then.

"We haven't done anything yet - when you think we've got winter to come and injuries and suspensions, we haven't even started yet.

"If we've done anything, I'll be patting people on the back at the end of the season, and not before."

Blakemore's unshakeable belief means he is optimistic his side won't run out of steam.

After losing to Romulus, Chasetown bounced back with successive 1-0 wins against Rocester in the FA Cup and Aylesbury in the league.