ONE non-league result screamed out at Ipswich Town fans over the weekend - Lewes won a match!On the face of it, Lewes recording a 2-1 home win over Bishop's Stortford 2-1 would not have raised even an eyebrow.

Carl Marston

By Carl Marston

ONE non-league result screamed out at Ipswich Town fans over the weekend - Lewes won a match!

On the face of it, Lewes recording a 2-1 home win over Bishop's Stortford 2-1 would not have raised even an eyebrow.

But in the current climate, with Town not having won a league game this season, it was always comforting to know that other teams relatively high up the Football League ladder were also in that position.

Football League basement dwellers, Darlington, had broken their duck with a win over Shrewsbury Town the previous weekend, leaving Roy Keane's men as the only club from the top five divisions not to have taken three points from a match.

The next highest-ranked club, without a win, had been Lewes in the nether regions of Blue Square South. But the Sussex club's landmark victory over play-off chasing Bishop's Stortford has meant that you now have to drop down another rung to search out some company for winless Town.

Finally, on level seven, there are two teams who are still chasing their first wins of the season.

Rugby Town, at the foot of the Zamaretto Southern League Premier Division, have managed just three draws and nine defeats from their first 12 games.

And even worse off is hapless Durham City, who are stranded at the bottom of the equivalent Northern Premier League Premier Division with no wins and no points from 14 league fixtures.

So if Town do fail to beat visiting Derby County on Saturday, all eyes will be on how Durham City and Rugby Town fared in their games.

n Town centre-half Gareth McAuley, as feared, will be out of action for two weeks after injuring his thigh during Saturday's 1-1 draw at Plymouth Argyle.

McAuley had a scan over the weekend. He is therefore set to miss this Saturday's home game against Watford, and the following Saturday's trip to Reading.

There is then a two-week break for internationals, so McAuley is unlikely to return before the home clash with Sheffield Wednesday on November 21.

n Town's 16-year-old striker, Connor Wickham, was involved in setting up three of the goals for England Under-17s in their 6-2 win over Kazakhstan, in a UEFA European Under-17s Championship qualifying group game.

England take on hosts Azerbaijan in their second game tomorrow, before playing against Serbia in their third and final fixture on Saturday.

Wickham's last appearance for Town was as a second-half substitute in the 1-1 home draw against Watford last week. He has now won five caps for England Under-17s.