There is finally a light at the end of what has been a long and difficult season for London Colney according to manager Ken Charlery.
Hopes were high at the start of season with a number of new players joining the Cotlandswick side and a position at the business end of the league planned.
However, their year slowly unravelled and it has led to a small band of volunteers working tirelessly alongside the boss to get the Blueboys back on an even keel.
And despite their lowly position at the foot of the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division, ex Barnet and Peterborough United star Charlery is confident better times are just around the corner.
He said: "It's been a stupid season where we started off with a big plan. It looked good on paper but we couldn't maintain it.
"The Biggleswade boys who came across did well for us when they were here but they've gone and now we're rebuilding from scratch again.
"The big defeats at Leighton Town, Crawley Green and Tring Athletic were like pre-season games where I didn't know who I was getting.
"We've steadied the ship now and it is mostly all youngsters but they have to man-up now and come to the fight.
"And we're in a fight.
"They can come out as heroes and if they can get three points against the sides around us then [the big defeats] will be a distant memory."
They had hoped to use Saturday's home game against Arlesey Town as a first step in that battle to avoid relegation but ended up suffering a 3-0 loss.
That was the score at half-time thanks to goals from Josh Brown, Charlie Moss and Charlie Black but the early sending off of Jack Mace didn't help their cause.
Their next fixture is on January 14 when they host Leverstock Green.
Off the pitch though things are definitely starting to look better than they were a few months ago.
"We've got a lot of things going on behind the scenes and I've got myself involved with those too," said the manager.
"It's hard sometimes to maintain the focus but hopefully we're almost back to where we were and we know what's what.
"They are all good things touch wood and hopefully we'll still be in the Premier Division next season with a different team around us."
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