Like a shop owner bemused at disappointing pre-christmas sales, Pete Lazlett must have looked at his team-sheet and muettered "Where have they all gone?"

And Mill Hill's seasonal fortunes mirrored the High Street's dismal performance as they went down 3-0 to leaders Tring.

I must confess that I myself was not there for the game but, given the scoreline, it appears that none of the actual eleven had much of a grasp on what was going on so I feel in as good a position as any to write the report.

Mill Hill were mainly let down by their positional sense.

Dan Stockhill was miles away from his man for the first goal, while keeper Marc Scut's attention was clearly elsewhere for the second.

Upfront, the team were largely toothless, with Ryan Schlanders seeming to have adopted the directional abilities of his own satnav and gone awol.

Although (I imagine) Pete toiled dutifully in the midfield, it was not enough.

A full strength side in the new year (assuming Mike Solomons can sqeeze out of his Santa's outfit and the other elves agree to release Dan fom his work producing Christmas munitions) Mill Hill will be a different prospect.